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ILLINOIS AS IT IS; 



ITS 



HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, STATISTICS, CONSTITUTION, LAWS, GOVERNMENT, 

FINANCES, CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, ANIMALS, STATE OF HEALTH, 

PRAIRIES, AGRICULTURE, CATTLE-BREEDING, ORCHARDING, 

CULTIVATION OE THE GRAPE, TIMBER-GROWING, 

MARKET-PRICES, LANDS AND LAND-PRICES, 

GEOLOGY, MINING, COMMERCE, 

BANKS, RAILROADS, PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS, NEWSPAPERS, ETC., ETC. 



FRED. GERHARD 



WITH 

A PRAIRIE AND WOOD MAP, A GEOLOGICAL MAP, A POPULATION 
MAP, AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS. 



CHICAGO, ILL.: 
KEEN A N E> EEE 

PHILADELPHIA: 

CHARLES DESILYER, 



185 



Fv5 45 



Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by 

KEEN & LEE, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Northern 



District of Illinois. 



STEREOTYPED BY J. PAGAN, PHILADELPHIA. 






ifcuahit 



TO 

THE BRAVE AND INDUSTRIOUS CITIZENS OF 
ILLINOIS, 

AND 

TO ALL THOSE WHO INTEND TO BUILD A HOME THERE, 
MAY THE FLOURISHING AND FERTILE 

PRAIRIE-STATE 

UNFOLD, FROM YEAR TO YEAR, MORE AND MORE GLORIOUSLY; 

AND 

MAY VIRTUE, WEALTH, AND HAPPINESS, 

FOE EVER 

HAVE THEIR ABODE WITHIN 

HER BORDERS. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 
PREFACE 7 

INTRODUCTION 10 

HISTORY 13 

CONSTITUTION , 138 

GOVERNMENT — Judiciary 164 

Finances 166 

LAWS — Land Titles 168 

Execution of Deeds and Mortgages.. 172 

Form of Acknowledgment 173 

Recording of Deeds and Mortgages 174 

Wills of Real Estate..... 175 

The Probate and Recording of Wills 177 

Title to Real Estate by Inheritance 179 

Levy and Collection of Land Taxes 180 

Land Tax Forfeitures and Redemption 184 

Limitation of Actions 184 

Limitation for the Recovery of Real Estate 185 

• Exemptions 186 

Homestead Exemption 187 

Lien Law 1S8 

Chattle Mortgages 189 

Contract 189 

Collection of Debts 189 

Rate of Interest , 191 

Landlord and Tenant 191 

Promissory Notes and Bills of Exchange 193 

Apprentices 193 

Rights of Married Women and Widows 194 

Estrays 195 

Game Law 197 

GEOGRAPHY 199 

STATISTICS 218 

CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS. AND ANIMALS 230 

STATE OF HEALTH AND DISEASES „ 259 

THE PRAIRIES 271 

1* (5) 



6 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

AGRICULTURE , 289 

Amount of Bushels raised per Acre 290 

Profits of Farming 293 

Soil 309 

Breaking the Soil 310 

Fencing 311 

Division of Farms, Rotation of Crops, and Manuring 312 

Labor, Wages, and Implements 316 

Indian Corn 319 

Wheat , 324 

Oats 328 

Barley 328 

Rye 329 

Buckwheat 329 

Hops , 330 

Potatoes 330 

Sweet Potatoes 332 

Flax 333 

Broom Corn 336 

Chocolate Corn 337 

Chinese Yam 338 

Grasses 339 

FRUIT CULTURE— Apple 341 

Peach . , 342 

Pear 343 

Quince . 344 

Plum , 344 

Prune 344 

Cherry , 345 

Berries 345 

GRAPE CULTURE 348 

GROWING OF TIMBER....; 352 

THE MACLURA HEDGE 355 

MAPLE SUGAR i 363 

CATTLE BREEDING 365 

MARKET PRICES « 372 

GEOLOGY AND MINING , , 376 

COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES OF CHICAGO 388 

LANDS AND THEIR PRICES 401 

THE LANDS OF THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD 406 

BANKS 419 

RAILROADS 127 

PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS 436 

NEWSPAPERS 439 

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES , 444 

HINTS TO IMMIGRANTS ... 445 



PKEFACE 



In presenting this book to the Public, it seems proper to me, to make a 
brief, but candid and respectful, mention of the motives which have induced 
me to write it, as well as the means I adopted to collect and secure, in a 
reliable form, the large amount of material and truthful information that will 
be found to make up its contents. 

Having for a long while past endeavored, in seeking to aid and direct 
the great mass of the emigration from Europe, to fiud and to point out 
what seemed the best way to the advancement of their welfare, my attention 
was early given to the remarkable developments which have been, and are 
still, made in the Western States. While thus employed, I made myself fully 
acquainted with the prevalent literature of the West, and became a close 
observer of "the progress of events" in the new States. Through this employ- 
ment, and by such observations, my judgment, I trust, has been rightly ma- 
tured, so that I may freely utter my own convictions, as entitled to some 
weight, that Illinois is, if really not the most attractive, at least one of those 
States which offer the amplest guarantees for the rapid thriving and ultimate 
success and welfare of those who may seek to establish for themselves a 
" Home in the West." 

After having thus sedulously made myself acquainted with the character 
of the West in general, and especially still more carefully studied everything 
relating to Illinois, I resolved upon the preparation of this work ; and, for 
the purpose of facilitating my labors, V I made a personal visit through the 
State, in the fall of the year 1855, and examined things with my own eyes. 
It has not, however, been my object to write a merely pleasing and saleable 
book, without the strictest regard to the authenticity and truthfulness of its 
statements. Well knowing the aptitude of even the most honest Observer and 
candid writer, while travelling through a State in order to gain a more inti- 
mate knowledge of it, to be filled with false first-impressions, misapprehen- 
sions, and monotonous judgments, I have not, therefore, solely relied upon my 
own personal observations and experience; but sought, in all that I have 

(7) 



8 PREFACE. 

•written, to base it substantially upon the testimony of many other persons, 
such as farmers, merchants, physicians, clergymen, &c, who have been long 
residents of the State, and whose personal experience is of much weight. 
In the course of my journey through the State, I accordingly made it one of 
my principal aims to cultivate the acquaintance of such persons, and to pro- 
cure their impartial statements and opinions as to the existing state of things 
in Illinois. Among numerous others, who have very much favored me in this 
respect, I feel myself under particular obligations to Governor J. A. Matte- 
son, Lieutenant-Governor G. Kcerner, and JFrancis A. Hoffmann, Esq. In 
making my further acknowledgments, it is but an act of justice to mention 
the following-named gentlemen^ through whose kind letters and valuable 
written communications I have been enabled to make up a great part of the 
matter of this book, viz. : — 

F. J. Arenz, Esq., Arenzville, Cass co. Wm. Eddy, Esq., Hennepin, Putnam co. 
I. A. Arenz, Esq., Beardstown, Cass co. W. D. Edwards, Esq., Lacon, Marshall co. 

S. A. Armstrong, Esq., Morris, Grundy co. John McElvain, Esq., McLeansboro, Hamilton 

I. Atkinson, Esq., Pekin. co. 

Edgar Babcock, Esq., Metamora, Woodford co. N. D. Elwood, Esq., Joliet. 

R. G. Bailey, Esq., Mt. Carroll, Carroll co. Theo. Engelmann, Esq., Belleville. 

Wm. M. Bean, Esq., Metropolis, Massac co. Steph. Feussner, Esq., St. Clair co. 

Edw. Bebb, Esq., Eountaindale, Winnebago co. Edw. Forcht, Esq., Concord. 

L. M. Beels, Esq., Belvidere, Boone co. Henry Funk, Esq., Stout's Grove, McLean co. 

A. Berlin, Esq., Granville, Putnam co. H. W. Good, Esq., Yandalia, Fayette co. 

Jas. Biddlecom, Esq., Waukegan, Lake co. R. S. Graham, Esq., Carmi, White co. 

Chs. Biel, Esc;., Somonauk, De Kalb co. John McGraw, Esq., Clinton, De Witt co. 

Dr. Fred. Bock, Waterloo, Monroe co. J. G. Hall, Esq., Shawneetown, Gallatin co. 

D. Bonar, Esq., Cambridge, Henry co. Edson Harkness, Esq., Southport, Peoria co. 

A. K. Bosworth, Esq., Greenup, Cumberland co. Wm. H. Haskell, Esq., Canton, Fulton co. 

G. W. Bowyer, Esq., Pontiac, Livingston co. Jul. Heinrich, Esq., Peru. 
Rev. C. A. Brauer, Addison, Du Page oo. John Hertel, Esq., Rock Island. 
Fred. Brendel, M. D., Peoria. G. P. Hilgard, jr., Esq., Belleville. 

A. B. Briscoe, Esq., Marshall, Clark co. John Hinton, Esq., Taylorville, Christian co. 

James N. Brown, Esq., late President of the C. Hofmann, M.D., Pekin. 

State Agricultural Society Island Grove, F. A. Hoffmann, M.D., Beardstown. 

Sangamon co. Mich. Hogle, Esq., Middleport, Iroquois co. 

F. Bumann, Esq., Bunkerhill, Macoupin co. Rev. P. W. Holls, Centreville, St. Clair co. 

Geo. Bunsen, Esq., Belleville. _ Rev. Hoppe, Belleville. 

Ph. Burk, Esq., Hardin, Calhoun co. Jos. C. Howell, Esq., Carlinville, Macoupin co. 

Z. Cadley, Esq., Knoxville, Knox co. James S. Johnston, Esq., Mt. Carmel, Wabash 
Thus. H. Campbell, Esq., Auditor of the State, co. 

Springfield. I. S. Irwin, Esq.. Mt. Sterling, Brown co. 

J. J. Cole, Esq., Oswego, Kendall co. M. Kleinhenz, Esq., Henry, Marshall co. 

A. Collins, Esq., Hadley, Will co, E. M. Lamb, Esq., Woodstock, McIIenry co. 

Dan. Converse, Esq., Waterloo, Monroe co. J. A. M. Laurie, Esq., Urbana, Champaign co. 

T. R. Courtney, Esq., Ottawa, La Salle co. Wm. Leighton, Esq., Winchester, Scott co. 

F. E. Cummings, Esq., Lincoln, Logan co. L. B. Leisenbee, Esq., Thebes, Alexander co. 

C. Dairly, Esq., Caledonia, Pulaski co. Geo. W. Lowdcr, Esq., Jersey ville, Jersey co. 

F. S. Day, Esq., Peru. Jas. G. Madden, Esq., Monmouth, Warren co. 

Rosw.Dow, Esq., Sycamore, De Kalb co. Jas. S. Martin, Esq., Salem, Marion oo. 

M. M. Dudley Esq., Naperville, Du Page co. N. W. Matheny, Esq, Springfield. 



PREFACE. U 

W. L. Mayr, Esq., Albion, Edwards co. Rev. A. Selle, Crete, Will co. 

Henry Menke, Esq., Beards town. A. Shaw, Esq., Lawrenceviile, Lawrence co. 

Chas. Molitor, Esq., Springbay, Woodford co. J. C. Short, Esq., Danville, Yermillion co. 

Henry T. Mudd, Esq., Pittsfield, Pike co. James G. Soulard, Esq., Maple Lawn, Jo Da- 

Chrs. W. Murtfeldt, Esq., Oregon, Ogle co. viess co. 

Messrs. Casp. & Hy. Oertley, Princeviile, Peo- Thos. McSoy, Esq., Ewington, Effingham co 

ria co. Rev. S. Spies, Mascoutah, St. Clair co. 

W. W. Oglesby, Esq., Decatur, Macon co. Dan. Stahl, M. D., Quincy. 

J. N. Onstot, Esq., Havana, Macon co. I. Trautham, Esq., Macomb, McDonough co. 

James F. Oulton, Esq., Monticello, Pratt co. John Trousdale, Esq., Fairfield, Wayne co. 

S. G. Paddock, Esq., Pi'inceton, Bureau co. J. B. Turner, Esq., Elizabethtown, Hardin co. 

J. N. Pearce, Esq., Yienna, Johnson co. Isaac Underbill, Esq., Peoria. 

James M. Perry, Esq., Kankakee. Pet. Unzicker, Esq., Groveland, Tazewell co. 

John W. Pyatt, Esq., Pinkneyville, Perry co. A. Yetterhoeffer, Esq.. Washington, Tazewell co. 

John Eanney, Esq., Keithsburgh, Mercer co. P. H. Walker, Esq., Rushville, Schuyler co. 

S. W. Raymond, Esq., Ottawa. R. A. Warfield, Esq., Raleigh, Saline co. 

Jos. Reinhard, Esq., Granville, Putnam po. Dr. Welsch, Mascqutah. 

C. Reuske, Esq., Petersburg, Menard co. Alb. Weinberger, Esq., Whitefield township, 
Const. Rilliet, Esq., Highland, Madison co. Marshall co. 

B. Roberts, Esq., Shelby ville, Shelby co. F. Wenzel, M. D., Belleville. 

Wm. Ross, Esq., Pittsfield, Pike co. John H. White, Esq., Marion, Williamson co. 

Benj. Sammons, Esq., Hillsboro, Montgomery Jas. Wightman, Esq., Carlyle, Clinton co. 

co. J. Winn, Esq. Toulon, Stark co. 

T. Sears, Esq., Oregon, Ogle co. Dr. J. G. Zeller, Springbay, Woodford co. 

I am, also, under particular obligations to Dr. Fred. Brendel, of Peoria, 
for the drawings and delineations, which he had the kindness to furnish me, 
and which will be found appended to this book. They consist of three maps, 
viz. : — 

1. A Prairie and Wood Map. 

2. A Geological Map. 

3. A Population Map. 

These maps, I am confident, the reader will find to form a very excellent and 
valuable supplement to the work. 

The literary resources of which I made use, are — 

Brown's History of Illinois. 

Ford's History of Illinois. 

Reynold's My own Times. 

Reynold's Pioneer History of Illinois. 

Reynold's Sketches. 

Peck's Gazetteer of Illinois. 

Illinois in 1837. 

Curtiss' Western Portraiture. 

Hall, The West. 

Brown's Records of Peoria. 

Campbell's Glance at Illinois. 

Transactions of the Illinois State Agricultural Society. 

Revised Statutes of Illinois. 

F. A. Hoffmann's Commercial Reports, &c. &c. 



10 PREFACE. 

— together with many newspapers, printed in the State, which the publishers 
had the kindness to send regularly to me.* 

It was a part of my original intention to append to this work a complete 
Gazetteer of the whole State ; but, for the want of room, I am compelled, 
very much to my regret, to desist from doing so. The very valuable material 
which I had collected for this purpose, and which I have now in my posses- 
sion, I will, however, reserve, and prepare for the publication of a Gazetteer 
at some future period. 

May this book meet a kind approbation, and benevolent criticism, and 
prove as welcome and useful to the citizens of Illinois as to new settlers. 

THE AUTHOR. 

New York, December the 25th, 185a 

* It being my intention to follow up, in future editions of this work, the progressive history 
and development of Illinois, and as I consider its newspapers as furnishing the best resources 
for this purpose, the publishers of newspapers in Illinois will greatly ohlige me by sending me 
their papers regularly. If directed, "Gerhard's German Reporter, New York," they will cer- 
tainly come to my hands. 






IN THE PLACE OF AN 



INTRODUCTION 



" The brilliant destiny of Illinois is now fairly beginning to unfold, 
and to be read in the speed with which she is bounding forward upon 
the highway to prosperity and greatness. Earth holds not, upon all 
its broad surface, a more fertile and favored land than this, our own 
beautiful Prairie State. What a mighty aggregation of natural 
advantages do we behold within her borders ! In the very centre 
of the great Mississippi Valley, and in the heart of the Confederacy, 
she is embraced by magnificent lakes and rivers. With a soil of 
unsurpassed richness, resting upon a bed of coal sufficient to " keep 
the hearthstone of the world bright. for a thousand centuries"; with 
a climate genial and healthful; with a level contour of surface, 
inviting the construction of great works of internal improvement; 
abounding in mineral resources j destined to be the crossing for the 
grand lines of oceanic intercommunication, connecting the extreme 
sections of the Union — those lines which must become the highways 
of nations, over which will pass the products of every clime, and a 
great moving human tide, in one unceasing flow ; — blessed with all 
these advantages, nothing is wanting further to constitute the elements 
of physical greatness. We have an ample guarantee, in the character 
of her population, that her unbounded natural resources will receive 

(ID 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

a speedy development. The heavy debt, from the contemplation ot 
which so many shrank back appalled, now presses no more heavily 
upon her energies, than the curtain of morning mist that rests upon 
the bosom of her prairies. Her whole population are excited to 
unwonted activity by the brilliancy of the future; and, from every 
quarter, emigrants throng to her fertile plains. Inhabited by an 
honorable people, who kept her escutcheon free from the deep stain 
of repudiation, in the terrible ordeal of temptation through which she 
passed — inhabited by a generous people, who, although weighed 
down with onerous burdens, cheerfully submitted to additional 
taxation, to provide asylums for the stricken and unfortunate — 
inhabited by a brave people, whose valor upon the field has 
illuminated some of the brightest pages of the Republic's history, 
and heard of wherever the " birds of fame have flown." 

(From an Oration, delivered by Robert Bell, Esq., 
at Fairfield, Illinois.) 



ILLINOIS AS IT IS. 

HISTORY. 
CHAPTER I. 

The State of Illinois was, originally, a part of Florida, and be- 
longed to Spain, and was so laid down upon the old Spanish map of 
North America. The Spaniards, led on by the daring Fernando de 
Soto, were the first Europeans who had discovered the Mississippi ; 
they had erected the standard of Spain on its shores in the year 1541, 
and, according to the views at that time prevailing, had thus esta- 
blished the title of their country to the whole of that vast region 
watered by its tributary streams, so that thenceforth the State of 
Illinois became a Spanish colony, and its native inhabitants vassals 
of the Spanish crown. But, although the Spaniards claimed the 
State by right of possession, its settlement was never entered upon 
by them, but was first carried into effect by the French. 

At the very time that the Spaniards under Fernando de Soto were 
exploring Florida and the valley of the Mississippi, several attempts 
were made on the part of the French by two enterprising adventurers, 
Cartier and Roberval, to plant settlements on the banks of the St. 
Lawrence; but these enterprises proving abortive, nothing effectual 
was done by the French to colonize North America, until the year- 
1603, when certain merchants at Rouen having formed themselves 
into a company for this purpose, Champlain, a man of untiring energy 
and great intrepidity, who had been charged with the direction of 
their enterprise, succeeded in establishing the first permanent French 
settlement upon the North American Continent. As early as 1608, 
he laid the foundation of Quebec, and, in the following year, explored 
the region occupied by the Indian Nations of Northern New York. 
2 (13) 



14 HISTORY. 

By a charter from Louis XIII, granted to him in the year 1627, he 
obtained a patent of New France, embracing the whole basin of the 
St. Lawrence and Canada, and entered upon its government in the 
year 1632. Perceiving that tbe climate of New France would offer 
but little encouragement to immigration, he thought, that the settle- 
ment of the new country could not be more effectually promoted than 
by establishing missions, to call upon religion to aid him in the exe- 
cution of his designs, and to enter into a close alliance with the native 
Indians. No sooner, indeed, had the French established their au- 
thority in Canada, than numbers of Jesuit missionaries resorted 
thither, and commenced preaching the gospel to the untutored sa- 
vages, and forming alliances, in the name of their king, with the 
numerous savage tribes that inhabited the " Far West." In August, 
1665, Father Claude Allouez set out to travel among the Indians, 
visited the Chippeways, entered their councils, displaying before the 
wondering savages pictures of hell and of the last judgment, and 
lighted the Catholic torch at the council fires of more than twenty 
nations, whom he claimed for his country and his king. In his 
endeavors to extend the influence of France he was assisted by 
various missionaries employed for that purpose; among others by 
James Marquette, who labored incessantly for the cause of his Re- 
deemer and his country, travelling far and wide, exposed to the incle- 
mencies of the season, often subsisting on no other food than the 
unwholesome moss which he gathered from the rocks, and sleeping 
beneath the skies on the open ground, without the comfort of a fire. 
Whilst he was preparing to leave St. Mary's, the outlet of Lake 
Superior, where he then was, in order to explore the Mississippi, 
Louis XIV. and his minister Colbert having formed a plan for the 
extension of the dominion of France in North America, Nicholas 
Perot appeared at St. Mary's as their agent, and convoked a universal 
congress of the Indian nations at that place. The remotest Indian 
nations, from the St. Lawrence, the Mississippi, and the Bed River 
being assembled in council, in the presence of brilliantly-clad officers 
from the veteran French armies, it was announced to the amazed 
savages by Allouez, who acted as interpreter, that they had been 
placed under the protection of Louis XIV., king of France; and 
thereupon " a cross of cedar was raised ; and the whole company, bowing 



HISTORY. 15 

before this emblem of Christianity, chanted to its glory a hymn of the 
seventh century;" after which a cedar column, with the arms of the 
Bourbons engraved on it, being planted by the side of the cross, the 
faith and the rule of France were supposed to be permanently estab- 
lished upon the Continent. 

In 1673 James Marquette, with five Frenchmen as companions and 
two Indians for guides, reached the great "father of waters," on 
which they embarked "with a joy that could not be expressed," and 
hoisting the sails of their bark canoes, floated down the majestic river, 
" over broad clear sandbars," and glided past islets swelling from its 
bosom with tufts of massive thickness, between the " broad plains of 
Illinois and Iowa, all garlanded with majestic forests and chequered 
with illimitable prairies and island groves." After descending the 
Mississippi for about sixty leagues, they discovered an Indian trail, 
and unhesitatingly left their canoes to follow it. After walking for 
some six miles, they came to an Indian village, whence four men im- 
mediately advanced to meet them, offering the pipe of peace, their 
calumets "brilliant with many colored plumes," and speaking to them 
in language which Marquette understood : " We are Illinois ;" that 
is, " we are men." " How beautiful is the sun, Frenchman, when 
thou comesfc to us ! our whole village awaits thee, thou shalt enter in 
peace all our dwellings/ ' After staying with that hospitable people 
for a while, James Marquette and his companions further descended 
the Mississippi River until they were satisfied of its flowing into the 
~Gulf of Mexico, when they returned, and having reached the 39th 
degree of North Latitude, entered the Illinois River and followed it 
to its source. The tribe of Illinois Indians, which occupied its banks, 
invited Marquette to remain and reside among them. But expressing 
a desire to continue his travels, he was conducted by one of the chiefs 
and several warriors to Chicago, in the vicinity of which place he re- 
mained to preach the gospel to the Miamis, whilst his companions 
returned to Quebec to announce their discoveries. Two years after- 
wards Marquette entered the little river in the State of Michigan, 
called by his name, and erecting on its bank a rude altar, said mass 
after the rites of the Catholic Church ; and being left alone at his 
own request, " he kneeled down by its side, and offering to the 
Mightiest solemn thanks and supplications, fell asleep to wake no 



16 HISTORY. 

more. The light breeze from the lake sighed his requiem, and the 
Algonquin nation became his mourners. " 

The fame of Marquette induced others to follow in his wake; and 
among these was Robert Cavalier de la Salle. In 1667, when the 
attention of Europe was directed to New France, he resorted thither, 
and first established himself as a fur-trader at La Chine, being in 
habits of daily intercourse with the warriors of the Iroquois, the Five 
Nations of Northern New York. Hearing from them the most glow- 
ing accounts of the Far West, he resolved to annex the same to 
France, and to establish a close connection between the valley of the 
Mississippi and New France by a line of military posts, and for that 
purpose repaired to France, where he sought and obtained an interview 
with Colbert, then the prime minister of Louis XIY. Colbert lis- 
tened with delight to the gigantic schemes of La Salle, and a paper 
having been obtained from the king commissioning La Salle to ex-' 
plore the valley of the Mississippi, he arrived with a number of me- 
chanics, and military stores and merchandise for the Indian trade, at 
Fort Frontenac, in the year 1678. In the fall of that year a boat 
of ten tons ; the first that ever entered the Niagara River, conveyed 
part of his company to the Niagara Cataract. He immediately estab- 
lished a trading-house in its vicinity, and laid the keel of a vessel of 
sixty tons, called the Griffin, which in the summer of 1679 was 
launched on the Upper Niagara, being the first vessel that ever rode 
on the waters of Lake Erie. The roar of its artillery reverberated 
from shore to shore, arousing the savages in their forests and making 
them come forward in their swift canoes and look with astonished 
curiosity upon it. He sailed across the lake and cast anchor on the 
27th of August in Green Bay, where he exchanged his goods at an 
immense profit for a rich cargo of furs, which he shipped in the 
Griffin to Niagara River to be disposed of, in order that he mio-ht 
make a remittance to his creditors. He next entered the river St. 
Joseph, on the banks of which he erected a small fort, known as the 
fort of the Miamies; and after waiting for a long time to hear tidings 
of the Griffin, being weary of delay, he resolved to explore the interior 
of Illinois. He left ten men as the garrison of his little fortress, and 
descended the Illinois as far as Lake Peoria, where he met large par- 
ties of Illinois Indians, who, desirous of obtaining axes and firearms, 



HISTORY. 17 

offered him the calumet and assented to an alliance. They received 
him and his companions with great joy, and when they learned, that 
colonies were to be established, in their neighborhood, the happiness 
of these simple-minded savages was complete. They offered to con- 
duct him to the Mississippi. But after building a fort a little above 
where Peoria now stands, which fort he named Creve Coaur, La Salle, 
destitute of almost every means required to prosecute his voyage, and 
ruined in fortune by the loss of the Griffin, set out on foot for Canada 
to procure aid, taking but three men to accompany him and leaving 
the rest to guard the fort, the command of which be entrusted to 
Tonti, with directions to fortify Rock Fort, a cliff on the Illinois River, 
rising to a great height above its banks. During the absence of La 
Salle, a large body of warriors of the Iroquois or the five Indian Na- 
tions of Northern New York, excited to hostilities by the enemies of 
La Salle, forced Tonti to abandon the construction of the fort and to 
seek refuge in the country of the Miamies. When La Salle after- 
wards returned, with a supply of men and stores, he found the fort 
entirely deserted, and thereupon visited Green Bay, recommenced 
trade and established friendly intercourse with the natives, found 
Tonti and his companions, left Chicago on the 4th of January, 1682, 
and having built a spacious barge on the Illinois River, descended 
the Mississippi to the sea. La Salle saw at once the unparalleled 
resources of this vast valley, and his exultation knew no bounds, when 
ne planted the arms of France on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. 
Claiming the country for France, in honor of Louis XI V., under 
whose patronage its discovery was achieved, he called it Louisiana. 
Having descended the Mississippi to the sea and informed himself 
about everything he wanted, he returned. On ascending the river a 
part of the company left behind settled at Kaskaskia and Cahokia, 
and their vicinity, being afterwards joined by other emigrants from 
Canada. La Salle himself returned to France by way of Canada, and 
having given a most glowing description of his discoveries to the 
king, was entrusted with the command of another expedition, fitted 
out by the king himself for the purpose of effecting the settlement 
of Louisiana J but having inadvertently passed the mouth of the Mis- 
sissippi, was obliged by his companions, who were unwilling to return, 
to land in Texas, where he founded the first settlement, and after 
2* B 



18 HISTORY. 

suffering innumerable privations with his party, every one of his ships 
being wrecked, and his colony diminished from 250 to 50 persons, he 
resolved to leave 20 men at the fort, and to go with the residue to 
Canada in search of supplies. Whilst on his way thither, he was 
treacherously murdered on the 17th of March, 1687, by two of his 
own men, who, stung to madness by disappointment in their expecta- 
tions of boundless wealth, resorted to assassination as the means, by 
which to avenge themselves upon the person of their generous com- 
mander. Thus perished miserably La Salle, no doubt the founder of 
the French dominion in the Mississippi valley, who by his courage, 
his vast comprehension, his restless energy, and untiring efforts to 
promote the interests of his country, has secured to his name an im- 
mortality of renown. 

Two years after his death war was declared between France and 
England; but though the French and English colonists devastated 
and plundered each other's frontiers, the military occupation of Illi- 
nois was continued without interruption. Public documents of the 
year 1696 mention a fort named St. Louis, and the wish of Louis 
XIV. to preserve it in good condition. The actual settlement of 
Illinois, however, advanced but slowly. Gravier succeeded Allouez 
at the Jesuit mission of Kaskaskia, "the village of the Immaculate 
Conception/' Sebastian Rasles joined him in the year 1693 as fellow- 
laborer. He investigated the principles of the Illinois language and 
established its principal rules, and preached the gospel, though sur- 
rounded by perils and opposed by Indian sorcerers. After the recall 
of Gravier and the decease of several of the missionaries, Gabriel 
Marest joined the mission, and for some time administered its affairs. 
" Our life," said Marest, " is passed in wading through marshes, where 
we plunge sometimes to the girdle, over boundless prairies, and in 
rambling through thick woods and forests, in climbing over hills, in 
paddling the canoe across lakes and rivers to catch a poor savage, who 
flies from us, and whom we can neither tame by teachings nor 
caresses." 

At the request of the Peorias, Marest established a mission among 
them. He was aided by Marmet, whose fervid eloquence, according 
to the testimony of Marest himself, made him the soul of the mission. 
His pupils at early dawn attended church neatly dressed in large deer 



HISTORY. 19 

skins, or in robes made of several. After receiving lessons they 
chanted canticles. Mass was then said in presence of the French and 
the converts, the women on one side and the men on the other. After 
prayer the missionaries visited the sick and administered medicine. 
In the afternoon they instructed in the catechism both young and old, 
every one of whom had to answer their questions. In 'the evening all 
assembled at church for instruction, to offer prayers to the Most High, 
and to chant the hymns of the Church. On Sundays and festivals, 
as also after vespers, the people were edified with an eloquent sermon. 
After sunset, parties would meet in each other's cabins to spend the 
night in reciting the chaplet in alternate choirs, and in singing psalms, 
which were frequently homilies, with the words set to familiar tunes. 
Saturday and Sunday were the days appointed for confession and com- 
munion, every convert confessing once in a fortnight. Many of the 
Indians were converted, and their daughters married to the French 
emigrants, according to the rites of the Catholic Church. 

In 1699 Lemoine de Ibberville was appointed Governor of Lou- 
isiana, and arriving with a French colony at the mouth of the Mis- 
sissippi, built a fort twelve miles west of Pensacola River. From 
that time the Territory of Illinois was included in and became part 
of Louisiana. A line of fortified posts now existed between the Gulf 
of St. Lawrence and the Gulf of Mexico. Jealous of the growth of 
French power in America, the English planned an expedition for the 
reduction of Canada, and fitted out a fleet of fifteen ships of war and 
forty transports, with seven veteran regiments from Marlborough's 
army on board, under the command of Sir Hoveden Walker. The 
news of the intended expedition soon reached Quebec, the fortifications 
of which were immediately strengthened, and the Indian nations of 
the Far West, including the Illinois, summoned for its defence. 
Whilst the Indian warriors were assembling at Quebec and Montreal, 
the fleet, which, on the 25th of June, 1711, had arrived in Boston, 
took in supplies of stores, and the colonial forces which were to par- 
ticipate in the expedition, and sailed for the St. Lawrence. As it 
ascended the river, the fleet became enveloped in a dense fog ; the 
Admiral proceeding too incautiously, eight of the vessels suffered ship 
wreck, and nearly a thousand men were drowned. At a council of 



20 HISTORY. 

war it was resolved to return ; and thus this expedition, undertaken 
at great expense, ended in ignominious failure. 

Peace being at length concluded between France and England, Lou- 
isiana and Canada were confirmed to the former. Obliged by the 
sanguinary and expensive wars in which he was involved, to withhold 
from Louisiana the usual supplies of money and men, and notwith- 
standing determined to prevent his enemies from taking possession of 
the same, the King of France, on the 14th of September, 1712, 
granted Louisiana, including also the State of Illinois and its territory 
of Wisconsin, to Anthony Crozat, whose character and abilities were 
sure pledges, that he would make the colony prosper under his direc- 
tion, and put an end to the dissensions between the provincial autho- 
rities. Admitted into partnership with Crozat, De La Motte Catilla 
was appointed Governor of Louisiana under the royal grant, and en- 
tered accordingly upon its government. Agriculture being neglected 
by the settlers, large sums were expended for provisions by Crozat, 
who, at the end of five years, finding his disbursements to exceed his 
receipts by about 125,000 livres, and being unwilling to incur further 
loss, surrendered his grant to the Crown, two years after the death of 
Louis XIV. A trading company, known as the Western Company, 
divided into 200,000 shares of 500 livres each, was formed, and the 
grant surrendered by Crozat conferred upon it. The capital of the 
Company was composed of State Securities, then selling at a discount 
of 78 per cent. John Law, a Scotchman by birth, a gambler and 
banker by trade, a daring speculator throughout, and at that time a 
favorite of the French Regent, because, by establishing a bank which 
flooded the country with paper money to the amount of 1,000,000,000 
livres, and enabled its unscrupulous founder to pay the interest on the 
public debt with its worthless issues, he had for a moment succeeded 
in arresting the national bankruptcy, paid also the whole of the in- 
terest due on this part of the public debt ; in consequence whereof a k 
sudden rise in its value took place to par, and John Law was entrusted 
by the Duke of Orleans, who governed the State in the name of Louis 
XV , then a minor, with the direction of the affairs of the said West- 
ern, now called the Company of the Indies, the number of whose 
shares were immediately increased by him to a very large amount. 
Oarryin? on his system of colonization and trading with the utmost 






HISTORY. 21 

prodigality, John Law in 1720, when at the height of hin fortune, 
built at a cost of several millions of livres, Fort Chartres, in the 
vicinity of Kaskaskia, and near the centre of the French settlements 
in Illinois. At length, however, his downfall, which cool reflecting 
men from the beginning had seen to be inevitable, took place. No 
sooner had more notes been issued, than the natural state of the busi- 
ness of the country could call for, and the specie been driven out of 
circulation by a superabundance of paper money, for the redemption 
of which nothing whatever of value had been pledged, than the bank 
exploded with a great crash. John Law, but a short time before the 
most influential person in the State, escaped with difficulty being torn 
to pieces by the excited populace, and died at Venice in the most 
wretched poverty in 1729. 

The failure of the master spirit, who through his bank had so libe- 
rally supplied the India Company with the funds required to carry on 
their business, resulted of course in the dissolution of the said com- 
pany. Louisiana being retroceded to the Crown in the year 1730, its 
interests were again the care of government ; Louis XV. and his 
minister, Cardinal Fleury, being very anxious to promote its pros- 
perity. Louisiana at that time included the entire valley of the Mis- 
sissippi and its tributary streams; all the countries west of the Alle- 
ghany mountains, with the head-springs of the Alleghany, the 
Monongahela, the Kanawha, the Tennessee, the Cumberland, and the 
Ohio, were claimed by Frenchmen as forming part of it. The French 
incessantly labored to extend their power and authority through the 
valley of the Ohio, and built forts intended to control the Indians. 
Having induced the Shawnee nation to place themselves under the 
protection of Louis XV., they erected a fort on the north bank of the 
Ohio, in the State of Illinois, in the vicinity of the Shawnees. Dis- 
pleased with the threatening aspect of this stronghold, the savages 
devised the following ingenious stratagem for its capture. A number 
of Indians, each of whom was covered with a bear skin and walked 
on all fours, appeared at daybreak on the opposite side of the river. 
Supposing them to be bears, the greater part of the garrison crossed 
the river and went in pursuit of them, whilst the remainder went to 
the bank of the river to witness the sport. Meanwhile the Indian 
warriors rushed forth from their hiding places in the woods near by, 



22 HISTORY. 

entered it without opposition, and having thus possessed themselves 
of the fort, surprised and massacred the French on their return. 

The French afterwards built another fort near that fatal spot, 
which, in commemoration of this disaster, they called Fort Massacre. 
It was occupied by the French until about 1750, when it was aban- 
doned, and is now, like most of the ancient forts in America, but a 
heap of ruins. 

On the 18th of May, 1756, another war broke out between France 
and England, of which war, since it resulted in the cession of Canada 
and the countries east of the Mississippi, Illinois included, to the 
English Crown, we shall state the general facts. 

A British trading company having, previous to the declaration of 
war, encroached upon French territory, the French took the alarm, built 
the Fort Du Quesne on the site of the present city of Pittsburgh, and 
dispersed a party of British workmen engaged in building a fort on the 
Ohio. Having received information of these open acts of hostility, the 
Legislature of Virginia despatched, in the year 1754, a military force 
under the command of Col. Washington, afterwards the illustrious 
President of the United States, to the scene of action. A party was 
sent from Fort Du Quesne to surprise him, but was itself surprised by 
Col. Washington, and every man taken prisoner. After this action 
Col. Washington was assailed in a fort previously erected by him, 
by a much superior force of French and Indians, and, after a gallant 
resistance, obliged to surrender the fort and to retreat to Virginia. 

In the summer of the following year Gen. Braddock, at the head 
of 2500 British veterans, and a body of Virginia militia, marched 
against Fort Du Quesne. Whilst proceeding through the woods in 
careless security, the troops were suddenly saluted with a tremendous 
fire of musketry from all sides, by an invisible foe. The panic at once 
became general. The American militia fought and died like soldiers, 
but the British veterans fled in the utmost confusion, notwithstanding 
the efforts of their officers, and especially of Col. Washington, who, 
during the whole action, displayed the most heroic bravery and admi- 
rable presence of mind, and was the only mounted officer who es- 
caped unhurt ; though four balls pierced his coat, and two horses 
were shot under him, he remained unwoundod, his life being evidently 
preserved by Providence, which destined him to play, at a later period, 



HISTORY. 23 

so noble and prominent a part in the history of the country which 
hails him as her founder. Such was the terror which struck the army, 
that they left all the artillery, ammunition and baggage to the enemy, 
and never stopped in their flight until they reached Fort Cumberland, 
In this action the British loss amounted to 700 killed, while the 
French force opposed to them was but 400, all told. Two subsequent 
expeditions undertaken against the French proving equally abortive, 
the campaign of 1755 ended in the disgrace of the British arms. 

In the year 1756 war was again declared between France and Great 
Britain. Whilst the British army was lying idle at Albany, the 
French, under the command of the vigilant and brave Marquis De 
Montcalm, captured Fort Oswego and conducted the whole garrison, 
1400 men, as prisoners of war to Canada. 

Lord Loudon opened the campaign of 1757 by proceeding with 
12,000 men to attack Louisburg, but finding the fortress in a formi- 
dable state of defence, concluded it to be the better part of valor to 
postpone the attack to some more convenient opportunity. His de- 
parture leaving the State of New York exposed to an attack, the vigi- 
lant Montcalm invaded the State, laid siege to Fort William Henry, 
and compelled its garrison, numbering 3000 men, to surrender at 
discretion. " Thus," as the English historian Smollet very justly 
observes, " ended the third campaign, where, with an evident superi- 
ority of numbers and resources, we abandoned our allies, exposed our 
people, and relinquished a large tract of country, to the shame and 
disgrace of the British name." 

The English opened the campaign of 1758 with the prodigious 
force of 50,000 men, one half of whom were regular troops, under the 
command of Gen. Abercrombie. Their fleets cruised at the same time 
along the American coast, and prevented any reinforcements whatso- 
ever from reaching the hands of the French in America. Gen. Aber- 
crombie, at the head of 17,000 troops, attacked Ticonderoga, but was 
repulsed. The expedition against Fort Du Quesne was more success- 
ful. All reinforcements, either from France or from Canada, having 
been intercepted, the garrison, entirely destitute of provisions as well 
as materials of war, found themselves obliged to abandon the fort 
without a struggle, at the approach of Col. Washington : and after 
setting it on fire, proceeded in boats down the river. The forts of 



24 HISTORY. 

Niagara, Ticonderoga and Crown Point, attacked by superior numbers, 
were also abandoned by the French. About this time another pow- 
erful army, under the command of the youDg and gallant Wolfe, 
arrived from England in America, to aid Gen. Abercrombie in the 
reduction of Canada. The cause of the French had now become 
hopeless ; their numbers were too small, and their communication with 
France being cut off, all their valor and bravery could afford them no 
chance of success in a struggle against such fearful odds, but would 
only contribute to their destruction. Louisburg was taken, and 
although the victorious career of Gren. Wolfe was momentarily checked 
by his defeat .at the Falls of Montmorency, where, in an attack upon 
the French, he lost 500 men, the subsequent battle fought by him 
upon the plains of Abraham, on the 13th day of September, 1759, 
against the French and Indian forces under the command of the Mar- 
quis De Montcalm, in which both the contending G-enerals were killed, 
the one in the moment of his victory, the other in the moment of his 
defeat, broke forever the French power in North America. Quebec 
surrendered, and with Quebec all Canada. 

When the news of this eventful battle reached England, so much 
were the people of that country astonished at their own success, that 
a day of most solemn thanksgiving was appointed by royal proclama- 
tion throughout the British empire, and the General, whose defeat at 
Montmorency had made all Great Britain grumble, and who on the 
fields of Abraham had only done his duty, was now extolled to the 
skies as the greatest hero the world had ever seen, &c. &c. 

In the conquest of the country the English had not conquered the 
hearts of the native Indians. Pontiac, the great Indian chief, appre- 
hended danger from the English, from whose arrogant and insolent 
behaviour he had reason to infer, that they were much inclined to 
expel him and his people from the country of their fathers altogether. 
M When the French came hither/' said a Chippeway chief, " they 
came and kissed us : they called us children, and we found them 
fathers : we lived like children in the same lodge." The French, in 
fact, had lived with the Indians, had assisted in their councils, smoked 
the calumet with them, had made them presents, and evinced much 
anxiety on their behalf. " On the other hand/' said Pontiac, " the 
English neglected all those circumstances, which made the neighbor- 



HISTORY. 25 

hood of the French agreeable, and which might have made their own 
at least tolerable. The conduct of the French never gave rise to sus- 
picion, the conduct of the English never gave rest to it." 

Pontiac, who clearly discerned that the British usurpations would ter- 
minate in the total extinction of his race, began to excite the Indians 
with the story of their wrongs, and to dream dreams, in which he pre- 
tended to have interviews with the G-reat Spirit, during one of which 
the G-reat Spirit had asked him : " Why do you suffer these dogs in 
red clothing to enter your country and take the land I give you? 
Drive them from it, and when you are in distress I will help you." 
Having thus roused the savage multitude to bloody vengeance, he 
concerted a plan to secure the co-operation of the savage tribes along 
the English frontier for more than a thousand miles, and having com- 
pleted his arrangements, made in the month of May, 1763, a simul- 
taneous attack upon each of the twelve British forts between Green 
Bay and Pittsburgh. Nine of them were immediately captured, with- 
out the slightest previous suspicion on the part of the British that the 
Indians had any hostile intentions. Ingenious artifices were used by 
the savages to effect the capture of the forts. Thus the Ottowas, 
before committing their assault upon Fort Mackinaw, arranged a great 
game of ball, to which the British officers were invited. While en- 
gaged in play, the Indians managed to throw the ball once or twice 
over the pickets, and were suffered to procure it from within the for- 
tress. Suddenly the ball was again thrown into the fort, and all the 
Indians rushed after it. The troops were butchered and scalped, and 
the fort destroyed. 

Peace was at length concluded between France and England, and a 
treaty to that effect signed at Paris on the 10th of February, 1763? 
in virtue of which France ceded to England Nova Scotia, the whole 
of Canada and its dependencies, and all that portion of Louisiana east 
of the Mississippi, together with the French posts and settlements on 
the Ohio. The State of Illinois was included in the above cession, 
and therefore, after the 10th of February, 1763, became part of the 
British empire. News having been received in America of peace 
being restored, Pontiac soon relaxed in his efforts, the tomahawk was 
buried, and the war-whoop no longer resounded through the thickets 
of the forests. Unable to bear the sight of the red-coats, Pontiac 
3 



26 HISTORY. 

left the country and repaired to Illinois, where he was assassinated by 
a Peoria Indian. His nation, the Ottowas ; and the Pottawatomies 
and Chippeways, determined to avenge the death of their revered 
leader, commenced a war upon the Peorias and their confederates, the 
Kaskaskias and Cahokias, in which these tribes were nearly exter- 
minated. 

At the time this State was ceded to England, the French portion 
of the population amounted to about 3000 souls. They resided along 
the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, and their largest towns were Kas- 
kaskia and Cahokia, of which the former contained about 100, and 
the latter about 50 families. Other small villages were in their 
vicinity, and one at Peoria, on the Illinois River. Prairie Du Rocher 
contained 14 families, and Prairie Du Pont, a short distance from 
Cahokia, about as many. Another considerable settlement was in and 
about Fort Chartres; but the whole did not exceed 3000 individuals. 
The French settlements were laid out by common consent on the same 
plan or system. The blocks were about three hundred feet square, 
and each block contained four lots. The streets were rather narrow, 
but always at right angles. Lots in the old times were enclosed by cedar 
posts or pickets, planted about two feet in the ground and extending five 
feet above. These pickets were placed touching each other, the whole 
forming a light and safe paling around each proprietor's lot. The 
upper ends of the pickets were sharpened, so that it was rather diffi- 
cult to get over the fence. A neat gate was generally made in the 
fence opposite to the door of the house, and the whole concern was 
kept clean and neat. 

Each village had a tract of land for common fields, containing seve- 
ral thousand acres, which was surrounded by a common fence, each 
family possessing a separate and well-defined portion of the land ex- 
clusively for itself. Besides this, a common, which contained fre- 
quently several thousand acres, and in which each villager had a joint, 
instead of a separate interest, was appended to. every village for wood 
and pasturage. Each proprietor of land was bound to make and 
keep in repair the fences on his land. 

The French in those days mostly sowed spring wheat. Sometimes 
wheat was sowed late in the fall. Indian corn was not so much culti- 
vated as wheat, or used as much by the inhabitants. A species of 



HISTORY. 27 

Indian or hominy corn was raised for the voyagers, which was an 
article of commerce. The French did not use Indian corn meal for 
bread to any great extent, but raised it for stock and to fatten hogs. 

Their farming implements were neither well made nor of the pro- 
per kind. Their ploughs had not much iron about them. A small 
piece of iron was on the front part, covering the wood. They had no 
coulter, and had a large wooden mould-board.- The handles were 
short and almost perpendicular, the beam was nearly straight, resting 
on an axle supported by two small wheels, the wheels low, and the 
beam so fixed on the axle with a chain or rope of raw hide, that the 
plough could be placed deep or shallow in the ground. Horses were 
seldom used for ploughing, oxen being preferred. The carts of the 
French, like the ploughs, were constructed without iron. When the 
Americans under Gen. Clarke camo to the country, they called these 
carts " barefooted carts," because they had no iron on the wheels. 

The French houses were generally one story high, and made of wood. 
A few of them were of stone. There was not a single brick house in 
the country for one hundred or more years from its first settlement. 
These houses were formed of large posts or timbers, the posts being 
three or four feet apart in many of them. In others the posts were 
closer together, and the intervals filled up with a mortar made of com- 
mon clay and cut straw. The mortar filled up the cracks, so that the 
wall was even and regular. The whole wall, outside and inside, 
was usually whitewashed with fine lime, so that these houses pre- 
sented a clean, neat appearance. The other class of houses having 
the posts further apart, the spaces were filled up with puncheons. 
The posts were grooved for the puncheons to fit in. These houses 
were used for stables, barns, &c. &c. The covering of the houses, 
stables, &c, was generally of straw, or long grass cut in the prairie. 
All the houses had porticoes around them, the posts of which wero 
generally of cedar or mulberry. A garden was assigned to each house. 
The doors were plain batton work, of walnut usually. The windows 
were generally glazed, and the sash opened and shut on hinges. Close 
by the houses were neat clean wells, nicely walled with stone, having 
a windlass fixed in them, so that water was convenient and clean. 

Hats in those times were very little used. The capot, made of 
white blanket, was the universal dress for the laboring class of people. 



28 HISTORY. 

The capot was a kind of cap, attached at the cape, and raised in cold 
weather over the head. Coarse blue stuff was used by the working- 
men for pantaloons in summer, and buckskin or cloth in the winter. 
Moccasins made from the skins of cattle were used instead of boots. 
The females generally wore the deer skin moccasins. Both sexe3 
kept always on hand something tasty and neat for the church and 
ball-room. 

The French in those days turned their attention to the Indian trade 
and to hunting, in a great measure, for support. Game was then 
plenty; buffalo, and other wild animals, were found in the prairies 
between Kaskaskia and Vincennes, sufficient to supply the inhabitants 
with animal food. The Indians called the Kaskaskia, Raccoon River, 
from the number of those animals living about it. A great many of 
the inhabitants were expert voyagers and hunters, and a hardy and 
energetic race of men, who could not be terrified by hardships or 
perils, and who often performed their laborious service without any- 
thing to eat, for days together. The women spun, wove, and made 
the garments, and carefully attended to their household affairs. Both 
sexes spent their leisure time in lively conversation, in dancing, or 
other amusements, according to the customs of their nation ; which, as 
true Frenchmen, even at so great a distance from their native country, 
they had not been able to renounce. 

The State of Illinois, although ceded in 1763, continued in the 
possession of France until 1765, when Captain Stirling, sent by Gen. 
Gage, then commander-in-chief of the British forces in America, to 
take possession of the territory, arrived, and assumed its government 
in the name of His Britannic Majesty. He established his head- 
quarters at Fort Chartres, and issued a royal proclamation, granting 
to the Roman Catholic subjects of His Majesty the free and undis- 
turbed exercise of their religion, according to the rites of the Roman 
Catholic Church, as it had already been granted to the Canadians. 

Captain Stirling was succeeded by Major Farmer, and the latter 
super^ded by Col. Reed, in 1766. Col. Reed remained also but a 
short time, and was succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel Wilkins, who 
arrived at Kaskaskia, on the 5th of September, 1768. Ever since 
the occupation of the territory by the British, the administration of 
justice had been in the hands of the military commandant, which 



HISTORY. 29 

caused no little annoyance to the public, and occasioned frequent 
complaints. A Civil Court, consisting of seven judges, was after- 
wards established, but trial by jury being refused, it did not become 
popular. Many of the French inhabitants, finding the British rule 
insupportable, emigrated to Louisiana. 

The war of 1756 had increased the public debt of Great Britain to 
an alarming magnitude, and various expedients were proposed for the 
payment of its interest and the liquidation of its principal. To raise 
£art of the money necessary for this purpose, the British Parliament 
claimed the right and power of taxing the American Colonies, although 
they were entirely without representation in the Parliament, and 
Great Britain had not even the slightest claim upon their gratitude, 
since nothing whatever had been demanded by the proud and inde- 
pendent American Colonists, or granted and provided by the nig- 
gardly hand of the British Government, to promote the settlement and 
welfare of the Colonies. The American people, too intelligent not to 
understand their rights, denied, repeatedly, the existence of any legal 
power on the part of Parliament to tax the Colonies ; but Parliament 
not only established it as a fundamental principle, "that Great Britain 
had a right to tax America," authorizing the imposition of duties 
upon tea, glass, paper, &c, but also passed a bill for quartering troops 
upon the Colonists, another for depriving them of trial by jury, and 
another for transporting persons charged with offences, beyond the 
high seas, for trial, and various others of a similar despotic nature. 
Such acts of tyranny and oppression would not be endured by a 
generous people, and met, therefore, with the most decided resistance 
on the part of the American people, which led to the outbreak of 
hostilities in 1775, inaugurating the glorious American Revolution, 
and causing the last ligaments that bound the descendants of England 
to the land of their fathers, to be severed for ever. 

About the time of the commencement of the Revolutionary War, 
or rather, before, the American Colonists had extended their settle- 
ments west of the Alleghanies, and occupied Kentucky. Of the 
first settlers, who repaired thither to seek a new home, the most con- 
spicuous were Daniel Boone, who arrived there in 1769, and George 
Rogers Clarke, who came thither from Virginia, in 1775. The popu- 
lation of Illinois was then about the same as at the time of its cession 
3* 



30 HISTORY. 

to England, a majority of it consisting of French and Catholics. 
Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Saint Vincennes, in Indiana, Detroit and Macki- 
naw, were garrisoned by English troops. 

Preparing themselves for the approaching struggle, in which they 
were to be so ignomioiously defeated, the British, by promises and 
gifts, had pacified the savages, and made them their allies, by repre- 
senting to them the Americans as bent upon their extermination, 
supplied them with arms and ammunition, and paid them liberally 
in advance for the scalps they were to bring in. Immediately upon 
the commencement of hostilities, the savages attacked the frontier 
settlements and burnt them to the ground, causing the forests to re- 
sound with the heart-rending shrieks of helpless women and children, 
who fell beneath the murderous tomahawk and scalping-knife of an 
enemy that knew no quarter. 

Clarke, tracing the incitement of the Indian ravages to the British 
settlements at Kaskaskia, Detroit, and Vincennes, his heart dilating 
with joy at the idea of annexing to his country a territory, the 
splendid resources of which he had found, on examination, to be un- 
rivalled any where, conceived the plan of carrying the war into Illi- 
nois. He hastened to Williamsburgh, then the capital of Virginia, 
sought and obtained an interview with the Governor, was promised a 
bounty of 300 acres for every person who should enlist, furnished with 
£1200 by the Governor, and authorized to raise seven companies of 
militia ; and, in order that the enterprise might be kept secret, was 
publicly instructed to proceed to Kentucky for its defence ; being thus 
" clothed with all the authority he could wish," he set off on the 4th 
of February, 1778, to make haughty Britain feel the power of the 
American arms. After reviewing his little band of four companies, 
equipped in the simplest manner, he commenced his march across the 
country, passed over the Ohio some distance above Fort Massacre, 
and continued to advance by the nearest route against the ancient 
French village of Kaskaskia. Whilst on his march, he fell in with a 
party of hunters, who communicated to him, that the town had no 
regular garrison j that the inhabitants, who entertained most horrid 
apprehensions of the Virginians, had not even the slightest suspicion 
of an attack being contemplated ; so that, if they could reach the town 
without being discovered, they could not ftil to render themselves 



HISTORY. 31 

masters of it Resolved to profit by this intelligence, Clarke, after 
an arduous march, of several days, when his provisions were now quite 
exhausted, arrived with his party near Kaskaskia. They entered a 
farm-house about a mile's distance from the village, where they 
learned, that though the militia had been called out the day before, they 
had been since dismissed, as no cause of alarm existed, and everything 
was apparently tranquil and quiet. Clarke immediately divided his 
detachment into several small parties, assigning to each a place of 
attack, and causing notice to be given to the inhabitants that whoso- 
ever of them should dare to appear in the streets, would be instantly 
shot down. Everything turned out as well as could be wished ; both 
the town and the fort were taken, and the British Governor, together 
with his British troops, were made prisoners of war. Resolving to 
make good use of the dread, in which the Virginians were regarded, 
Col. Clarke at once posted guards at every avenue of the town, so as 
to prevent all transmission of intelligence from without, disarmed the 
inhabitants in the short space of two hours, and ordered his troops to 
patrol the town in every direction during the night, making the most 
horrible uproar, and whooping after the most approved Indian fashion. 
On the next day the troops were withdrawn and placed in different 
positions about the town, and the inhabitants were strictly forbidden 
to *have any intercourse, either between themselves, or with the sol- 
diers. Several Kaskaskians, who had congregated and conversed 
with each other, were arrested and put in irons, without being allowed 
to utter a single word in their defence. The whole town was at once 
overspread with terror, and neither mercy nor compassion any longer 
expected. At last, the priest, and several of the most influential 
citizens of the village, were granted an audience by Col. Clarke. 
Addressing Col. Clarke in a low and submissive voice, the priest, in 
the name of the inhabitants, begged permission for them all " to as- 
semble once more in the church to take final leave of each other, as 
they expected to be separated never to meet again on earth." This 
being granted, the priest, feeling his drooping spirits revive, made an 
attempt at some further conversation, but was rudely interrupted by 
Col. Clarke, who told him that he had no time to listen any further 
to him. The whole town then went to church, remaining there for a 
long time, after which the same deputation waited again upon Col. 



32 



HISTORY. 



Clarke to express their thanks for the indulgence they had received; 
also to solicit him not to separate their families, and to allow them 
some clothes and provisions for their further support j and also to as- 
sure him that they would have long ago declared themselves in favor 
of Va.e Americans, had they dared so to do in the presence of their 
British rulers. Regarding it as useless to terrify the people any more, 
Clarke, throwing aside all disguise, told the people, who stood in utter 
amazement, not knowing whether to trust their ears, that he had 
none, save the most friendly intentions towards them, that the king 
of France, having united his arms with those of America, he, Clarke, 
expected the war shortly to cease, and that he was glad to be con- 
vinced of their being friendly to the American cause, notwithstanding 
the prejudices excited against the latter by British officers " And now," 
continued he, "to prove my sincerity, you will please inform your 
fellow-citizens that they are at liberty to go wherever they please, and 
that their friends in confinement shall immediately be released." The 
joy of the village seniors on hearing, and of the inhabitants, at the 
communication of the speech of Col. Clarke, was immense, so as to 
baffle all attempts at description. Suffice it to say, that the church 
was instantly filled, and devout thanks were offered to the Most High 
for the miraculous manner, in which he had subdued the minds of 
their savage conquerors. Nor did the gratitude of the people to Col. 
Clarke display itself in mere words ; for, when Col. Clarke resolved 
to capture, if possible, in the same way, Cahokia, which yet remained 
in the hands of the enemy, several Kaskaskians offered to aid him in 
the enterprise, assuring him that the Cahokians were their relations 
and friends, and would, at their request, be ready to join his cause. 
Accepting their services, Col. Clarke despatched them in company 
with a party of his own troops, to Cahokia, which they reached be- 
fore the surrender of Kaskaskia was even known there. The gar- 
rison of the British Fort at Cahokia was at once compelled to sur- 
render at discretion; the Indian force near Cahokia was dispersed, 
and the inhabitants, easily persuaded by their Kaskaskian friends, a 
few days afterwards took the oath of allegiance to the American Re- 
public. Thus, the State of Illinois, in territory larger than the whole 
of Great Britain, was annexed to the Republic by the energy of a 
single man, at the head of but four companies of militia, who, for 



HISTORY. 3| 

this purpose, had marched and transported their provisions and am- 
munition for one thousand three hundred miles, by land and water, 
through a wild and inhospitable region, inhabited by the allies and 
mercenaries of England. 

Having with a handful of trusty followers penetrated into the heart 
of a hostile country, Col. Clarke, considering his situation rather deli- 
cate, since he had no prospect of being speedily relieved or reinforced 
in case of need, and being aware that the position he now occupied 
would be unsafe as long as Fort Yincennes, which impeded his com- 
munication with Virginia, was in the hands of the British, determined 
to reduce this fort. As a preliminary step, wishing to conciliate to 
himself the favors of the Illinoisians, he organized courts, held by 
French judges elected by the people, with a right of appeal to himself — 
which courts became very popular and aided essentially in increasing 
his influence ; and further, besides instructing his soldiers to speak of 
the troops at Kaskaskia as a detachment only from the main body, 
stationed somewhere at the Ohio, he caused the rumor to be circulated, 
that reinforcements were hourly expected to arrive. The warm 
attachment of the Kaskaskians to him rendered these measures of 
precaution superfluous, for when Col. Clarke prepared in earnest for 
an expedition against Fort Vincennes, Mr. Gibault, the Roman Cath- 
olic priest at Kaskaskia, offered, if it met with his approbation, to 
take the whole business on himself, assuring him " that he had no 
doubt of being able to bring that place over to the American interest 
without the trouble of sending a military force against it." The offer 
being accepted, the priest set off for Yincennes. On his arrival he 
explained the object of his mission to the inhabitants, who, two days 
afterwards, threw off their allegiance to the British king, and in a 
solemn assembly at their church, proclaimed their political union with 
the Commonwealth of Yirginia, The American flag being hoisted, 
and a Provisory Commandant elected, the priest returned to Kas- 
kaskia with the agreeable intelligence, that Yincennes had gone over 
to the Americans. On hearing this, Col. Clarke appointed Leonard 
Helm commandant at Yincennes, and agent for Indian affairs in the 
department of the "Wabash. He also sent a detailed report of his 
campaign to the Legislature of Virginia, urging the same to appoint a 
civil commandant to take charge of the political affairs of the region 

c 



34 HISTORY. 

which had now submitted to his arms : whereupon in October, 1778, 
the said Legislature passed an act to establish " as the county of Illi- 
nois/' all that part of Virginia west of Ohio, surpassing in its dimen- 
sions the whole of Great Britain, and appointed Col. John Todd Civil 
Commandant and Lieutenant Colonel of the said county. 

Having established a garrison at Kaskaskia and another at Cahokia, 
as also a military post at the Falls of the Ohio, on the site of Louis- 
ville, the present great commercial emporium of Kentucky, Col. 
Clarke exerted himself to the utmost to bring about a good under- 
standing between the Indians and Americans, and being perfectly well 
acquainted with the Indian character, with the most consummate skill 
(indicating also a deep knowledge of human nature) induced them to 
abandon the British cause, and to conclude treaties of peace and of 
alliance with him. 

On the 29th of January, much to the dissatisfaction of Col. Clarke, 
intelligence was received at Kaskaskia, that Gov. Hamilton, of Detroit, 
had subjected Fort Vincennes once more to British sway, and that, 
but for the lateness of the season, he would have marched against 
Kaskaskia; that he contemplated, however, at any rate, opening 
early in the spring a grand campaign against Kaskaskia. 

At the time Gov. Hamilton had arrived with a considerable force 
before Vincennes, Capt. Helm and one soldier, by the name of Henry, 
constituted the whole of its garrison. No sooner had Gov. Hamilton 
approached within speaking distance of the fort, than Capt. Helm, 
standing with a lighted match by the side of a well-charged cannon, 
then placed in the open gateway, halloed out at the top of his voice, 
u Halt I" Gov. Hamilton immediately halted, and on seeing the 
cannon in the gateway, peremptorily demanded the surrender of the 
place.- Uttering a frightful oath, Capt. Helm exclaimed, "No man 
enters here until I know the terms." Hamilton at once replied, " You 
shall have the honors of war," whereupon Helm surrendered the fort, 
and the whole garrison, to the unspeakable mortification of the war- 
like British, consisting of one officer and one private, marched out 
with the honors of war. 

On hearing this, and on being further informed, that Gov. Ham- 
ilton had then only eighty men at Vincennes, and was impatiently 
awaiting the arrival of about 700 Indian auxiliaries, Col. Clarke, who 



HISTORY. 35 

on this occasion remarks in his journal, " I knew, that if I did not 
take him, he would take me," at once resolved to carry the war into 
Africa. Having fitted out a large Mississippi boat as a galley, he put 
six pieces and forty -six men, under the command of Capt. John 
Rogers, on hoard of it, and ordered the men to ascend the Ohio and 
enter the Wabash as far as the White River, where they were to 
await further instructions. He then raised, with the utmost dispatch, 
two companies of militia in Kaskaskia and Cahokia, which, his own 
force included, amounted to about 170 men, and before eight days had 
elapsed, was on his way to Yincennes. After a most toilsome march 
through woods, and over marshy, swampy prairies, he and his men 
came in sight of Fort Vincennes, and advanced within fifty yards of 
it. Col. Clarke, notwithstanding his galley, laden with ammunition 
and military stores, had not yet arrived, ordered his men to open a fire 
of musketry upon the British soldiers at their guns, which was done 
with such effect, that Gov. Hamilton found it impossible to keep them 
at their cannon, which, moreover, from their elevated position, had 
done no damage to the Americans. The rest of the tale is soon told. 
Gov. Hamilton, who knew what kind of an enemy he had to fight, 
finding all further resistance useless, surrendered the fort on the 24th 
of February, and the whole garrison, consisting of 79 men, and thir- 
teen pieces of cannon, and half a million of dollars' worth of military 
goods and stores, fell into the hands of the victors, who for the second 
time, on the ramparts of the fort, destined to remain American, un- 
furled the star-spangled banner, the ensign of freedom, to the breeze. 
Col. Clarke appointed Capt. Helm once more commandant of the fort, 
and embarking on his galley, which had now come up, returned to 
Kaskaskia. 

Such was the renown Col. Clarke had acquired by this successful 
expedition, and the rapid conquest of the territories between the Mis- 
sissippi and Ohio, that Buckongahelas, the head warrior of the Dela- 
wares, on a day in which he happened to meet Col. Clarke in council, 
" thanked the Great Spirit for having brought together two such great 
warriors as Buckongahelas and Col. Clarke !" 

The surrender of Cornwallis with his whole army on the 19th of 
October, 1781, to the Americans, spreading terror and consternation 
throughout Great Britain, a treaty of peace was signed between Eng- 



36 HISTORY, 

land and the United Colonies, in virtue of which the independence 
of the latter was fully recognised, and all the land east of the Mis- 
sissippi, and south of Lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron, Superior, and the 
Lake of the Woods, including therefore Illinois, was ceded to the 
Americans. That portion of the western lands which constituted 
what was then called the "Northwestern Territory," including the 
present States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, 
was claimed wholly by the State of Virginia, and in part by New 
York, Massachusetts and Connecticut ; but in consideration of the 
all-important object, to secure harmony among the States of the Con- 
federacy, which were then without any special bond of union, the peo- 
ple of the States, which, claimed to have a title to the said "North- 
western Territory," moved by a noble spirit of patriotism, ceded all 
their right and title to the Federal Government. Soon after these 
cessions had been made, Congress, in the summer of 1787, passed an 
ordinance " for the government of the territory of the United States 
north-west of the River Ohio/ 7 A governor was appointed by Con- 
gress for three years, and a secretary for four. A Court, consisting 
of three judges, was organized, and the governor and judges autho- 
rized to adopt and publish such laws of the original States as were 
necessary and best suited to the circumstances of the territory. As 
soon as there should be 5000 free male inhabitants of full age in any 
district, they were authorized to elect representatives for two years to 
a General Assembly. The Governor, Legislative Council, consisting 
of five members appointed by Congress, and a House of Representa- 
tives, could make any laws, provided they were not contrary to the 
ordinance of Congress. The Legislature were also authorized to elect 
by joint ballot a delegate to Congress. 

Arthur St. Clair, an officer of the Revolutionary army, who had 
served with some distinction, was appointed the first Governor and 
Commander-in-chief of the Territory. 

The white population of the Territory was but small : that of Illi- 
nois had remained stationary. Struck with the fertility of the soil of 
Illinois, several of the soldiers of Col. Clarke settled in that country. 
They were the earliest American settlers in Illinois. They lived 
mostly in stations, or block-house forts, which they had been com- 
pelled to erect for their protection, since the Indians committed great 



HISTORY. 37 

depredations on the habitations of the new settlers. The general con- 
struction of these block-house forts was about this : The lowest order 
of these forts was a single house, strongly built, a story and a half or 
two stories high. The lower story was provided with port-holes to 
shoot through, and also with substantial puncheon doors, three or four 
inches thick, with strong bars, to prevent the Indians from entering. 
The second story projected ever the first three or four feet, and had 
holes in the floor, outside the lower story, to shoot down at the Indians 
attempting to enter. 

Another higher grade of pioneer fortifications was made thus : Four 
large, strong block-houses, fashioned as above, were erected at the four 
corners of a square lot of ground, as large as the necessities of the 
people required. The intervals between these block-houses were 
filled up with large timbers, placed deep in the ground, and extending 
twelve or fifteen feet above the surface. Within these stockades were 
cabins built for the families to reside in. A well of water, or a spring, 
was generally found to be necessary in these forts. In perilous times 
the horses. were admitted into the forts for safe keeping. Generally 
there were two strong gates to these garrisons, with bars in proportion, 
to secure the doors against the savages. Port-holes were cut in the 
stockade at about seven feet high, and platforms raised to stand on 
when shooting. 

The timber in the vicinity of these forts was carefully cleared off, 
so as to afford no hiding-places to the Indians. In the mornings it 
was often dangerous to open the gates and walk out. The Indians 
frequently attacked the milking parties and others first going out of 
the fort. Sentinels were kept up all night in dangerous times. 

Emigrants from the remotest parts of the Union and of Europe 
would come together in these forts. Many were the quarrels, which 
such a mixed state of society would naturally lead to. The property 
of one man was often so contiguous to that of another as to excite 
strong temptations in the mind of the latter to annex it to his own ; 
nor does it appear, that the women were an exception to this rule. 
Whenever a violation of the sixth commandment took place, in which 
case, owing to the extremely limited space, detection was sure to fol- 
low, the grave old ladies would put on their spectacles and hypocriti- 
4 



38 HISTORY. 

caliy exclaim : " Oh the sins of the world ! It is no wonder we have 
an Indian war upon us !" 

The customs of these early American settlers were much on the 
French model, extremely gay, polite, and merry. 

In personal appearance these pioneers were rough and unrefined, 
yet were they kind, social, and generous. They were brave, energetic, 
and hospitable, and ready to share with their neighbors or newly- 
arrived strangers their last loaf. 

Their habits and manners were plain, simple, and unostentatious. 
Their dwellings were log cabins of the simplest structure, their furni- 
ture, utensils and dress were also as simple and economical as possible. 

For clothing, dressed deer-skins were extensively used, for hunting- 
shirts, pants, leggins and moccasins; the red skin of the prairie wolf 
or fox was converted into the hat or cap. Dressed skins of the buffalo, 
bear and elk furnished the covering of their beds. Wooden vessels 
were used instead of bowls. A gourd formed the drinking-cup. 

Every man carried his knife in his girdle, while the whole family 
had often to use the solitary remaining one. If a family chanced to 
have a few pewter dishes, knives and forks, it was in advance of the 
neighbors. 

The American settlers were hunters and stock-growers, raising, be 
sides a small amount of wheat, chiefly corn, which was beaten for bread 
in the mortar, and ground on a grater, or in a hand mill. 

Many of these settlers observed the Sabbath with an austerity that 
would have become a Puritan. 

To the French, on the other hand, the Sabbath always had been 
and still was a day of hilarity and pleasure. They would strictly 
attend mass in the morning and practise their devotions in the church ; 
and in the afternoon would assemble in parties at private houses for 
gay social intercourse, when cards, dances, and various sports, made 
the time pass. Intemperance, either in eating or drinking, was never 
witnessed among them. 



CHAPTER II. 

The Indians had not been included in the treaty of peace signed 
between Great Britain and America. Several tribes, therefore, wrought 
upon by British gold, continued their hostilities as before, and between 
1783 and 1790 nearly 2000 men, women and children in Kentucky 
alone had been killed or carried away into captivity. All peaceable 
remonstrances on the part of the United States government having 
been in vain, it became incumbent upon the latter to pacify the In- 
dians by force of arms. Gen. Harmar was accordingly despatched 
with a body of militia, amounting to 1433 men, into the country of 
the Miamies, but imprudently dividing his forces, he was attacked 
and defeated in detail by Little Turtle, the renowned warrior-chief of 
the Miamies, and obliged to return with a loss of 200 men. 

In the subsequent year, 1791, a new force of 2000 soldiers and a 
large body of militia were raised, and the previous Governor, Arthur 
St. Clair, though from physical debility altogether disqualified for 
service, appointed commander of it. Gen. St. Clair commenced his 
march, and having reached with part of his troops a tributary stream 
of the Wabash, encamped, intending to entrench himself and to await 
the arrival of the remainder of his troops. Penetrating his design, 
Little Turtle, at the head of about 1500 warriors, assailed the camp 
about midnight. The militia gave way, and the Indians rushed after 
them, spreading terror everywhere. The greatest confusion at once 
ensued throughout the whole camp. Gen. St. Clair being unable to 
walk, was borne upon a litter into the hottest of the engagement, and 
exerted himself to the utmost to restore order, but seeing all his 
efforts to be in vain, he ordered a retreat, which immediately degen- 
erated into a precipitate flight. Such was the panic, which had seized 
the army, that they abandoned their entire artillery train and baggage 
to the Indians, threw away their arms, and could not be brought to a 
stand before they reached Fort Jefferson. The Americans lost nearly 

(39) 



40 HISTORY. 

one half of their whole force engaged, or about 600 men, the Indians 
only 58. 

This disastrous defeat rendered it necessary, that the American 
Government should prosecute the war with the utmost vigor, in order 
to retrieve the credit of its arms. Negotiations were at first attempted, 
but failed, the savages being too much elated with their victory to 
think of peace. A new and still larger force was therefore raised, 
and its command entrusted to Gen. Wayne, famed for the gallant 
manner, in which he stormed Stony Point during the Revolutionary 
war, " where, after wading through a deep morass and surmounting a 
double row of abattis, and forcing his way up to the strong works on 
the summit of the hill amid a shower of shells and shot of every kind, 
being struck on the head by a musket-ball, he fell, and immediately 
rising on one knee, he exclaimed : ' March on and carry me into the 
fort j if the wound be mortal, I will die at the head of the column !' " 
With such a leader the event of the expedition could hardly be doubt- 
ful. His offers of peace being rejected, Gen. Wayne advanced on the 
15th of August, 1794, to Roche Debout, where he erected a small 
fort, which he called Fort Deposit. Five days afterwards he marched 
against the enemy and discovered them, about 2000 strong, in a posi- 
tion difficult of attack, their front protected by trees overthrown by a 
tornado, their right flank covered by thickets, and their left resting on 
the river Miami. As he was forming his army in order of battle, a 
brisk fire was opened upon his advance-guard from a thicket of under- 
wood. He immediately ordered the " front line of legionary infantry 
to rouse the Indians out of their thickets with the bayonet, and when 
up to deliver a tremendous fire on their backs, followed by a brisk 
charge, so as not to give them time to load again." So furious was 
the onset of the troops, and so irresistible their bayonet charge, that 
the Indians were completely routed before any of the other corps 
could have come up. The American loss was 107, while that of the 
Indians was far greater. Gen. Wayne was not remiss in following up 
this victory, laying waste whole villages and cornfields, for a distance 
of fifty miles around. The destruction of their cabins and cornfields 
at last broke down the savage obstinacy of the Indians, and they sued 
for peace, which was promptly granted, and mutually concluded on 
the 7th of August, 1795. With the termination of this bloody war 



HISTORY. 41 

the lives and property of the settlers were secured to them, and a new 
impulse was given to immigration, which began to pour slowly in. 

In 1803, a new territory, known as the territory of Indiana, which 
embraced the whole of the North-western Territory, with the excep- 
tion of the present State of Ohio, was formed, and William H. Har- 
rison, since President of the United States, appointed its first Governor. 
Illinois remained a part of the new territory until 1809, when it was 
erected into an independent territory, and Ninian Edwards appointed 
its first Governor. 

Peace had been made, and the white man had permanently es- 
tablished himself in the region, once a favorite hunting-ground 
of the Indian. No effort of the latter to recover the heritage of 
his fathers could have prevailed against the superior will and dis- 
cipline of the former. Despair filled the minds even of the boldest 
of the Indian race, and the indefatigable and enterprising Little Turtle 
himself, who had beaten the foreign intruder in many a bloody en- 
gagement, becoming satisfied of the impossibility of making the Ohio 
the boundary-line between the red and white man, relaxed in his 
efforts, and at last acquiesced in the rule of the white man. But 
when he ceased to battle for the rights of his people, a hero arose 
among the Indians, no doubt the most gifted and exalted of his race, 
who, collecting the nearly exhausted strength of his people for a last 
and desperate struggle, placed himself at their head, and fought fore- 
most in their ranks, until his untimely death on the field of battle 
forever sealed the doom of his unhappy race. 

The name of this extraordinary man, with whom we will next oc- 
cupy ourselves, is Tecumseh. He was a patriot, and the love of his 
country rendered him an irreconcilable enemy of the white man, upon 
whom, he was heard to declare, he could never look without feeling 
the flesh crawl upon his bones. His penetrating mind foresaw the 
total extinction of his race, the cause of which he traced, with uner- 
ring certainty, to the white immigration. He studied the subject as 
a statesman, and having satisfied himself that justice was on the side 
of his countrymen, with his heart oppressed by grief and inflamed 
with implacable vengeance, he tasked his mighty brain to find means 
to avert from his people the tide which threatened to engulf them. 

Upon the great work contemplated by him, Tecumseh entered in 
4* 



42 HISTORY. 

the year 1805 or 1806, when he had attained his 38th year. As a 
preliminary step, he sought to improve the morals of his people, 
whom the intercourse with the whites had only debased, and with 
this view caused their original manners and customs to be re-estab- 
lished, and the use of ardent spirits, and the intercourse with the 
whites to be strictly forbidden. Being aware of the superstitious 
character of his race, he communicated his plan to his brother, the 
prophet, who immediately entered into his designs. At first, he began 
by dreaming dreams and seeing visions ; afterwards he became an in- 
spired prophet, commissioned by the Great Spirit to decide over life 
and death, and to restore to the Indians their lands and original happy 
condition. The fame of the prophet soon penetrated to the frozen 
shores of the Lakes, and far away beyond the Mississippi, and pil- 
grims from the remotest tribes hastened to see him. Tecumseh him- 
self, seemed to believe, and mingling with the pilgrims, won their 
hearts by his address, and through them diffused a knowledge of his 
plan among the most distant Indian nations. He himself travelled 
far and wide, and by his brilliant eloquence, soon persuaded his coun- 
trymen to join his cause. It is related, that whilst among the Creeks 
in Alabama, he visited a chief called the Big Warrior, explained to 
him the object of his call, and perceiving that the Big Warrior 
wanted to keep aloof from fighting, told him that he knew the reason 
of his so declining to fight was his disbelief in the Great Spirit's 
having sent him, but that he would conclusively prove his divine mis- 
sion, by shaking down to the ground every house in his village by 
stamping with his foot on the earth, the moment he should have ar- 
rived at Detroit. He thereupon left him. The Big Warrior and his 
people anxiously watched the arrival of the day, on which they sup- 
posed, Tecumseh would reach Detroit. The anxiously looked-for day 
came, and with it a mighty earthquake, which levelled with the 
ground every house in Tuckhabatchee, the village of the chief. It 
was afterwards ascertained, that this earthquake had happened on the 
very day, on which Tecumseh arrived at Detroit, as he threatened it 
would. It was the famous earthquake of New Madrid, on the 
Mississippi. 

In the meantime, whilst laboring day and night in his great work, 
he had three different interviews with Gen. Harrison, during which 
he proposed to become even an ally of the Americans, provided they 



HISTORY. 43 

would deliver up the lands lately purchased, and never make another 
treaty without the consent of all the tribes. G-en. Harrison promised 
to refer the matter to the President, although, said he, he will not be- 
very likely to listen to the proposition made j whereupon Tecumseh 
declared, that the Great Spirit would determine the matter, and he 
and Harrison would be obliged to fight it out. The Governor then 
proposed to him, that, in the event of a war, he should do his best to 
put an end to the cruel mode of warfare as carried on by his country- 
men, to which Tecumseh at once assented, being perhaps, the only 
Indian, who scrupulously kept his word in this respect. 

On the 27th of July, 1811, he again visited G-en. Harrison, at the 
head of about 400 warriors, probably with a view of impressing the 
whites with an idea of his strength. Several murders had previously 
been committed in Illinois by the Indians, and Gen. Harrison, notified 
of these occurrences, was rather in a bad humor, when he met Te- 
cumseh at their fourth conference. Tecumseh, whose manner and 
behaviour were always very respectful, and on this occasion most re- 
markably polite and dignified, openly declared to Gen. Harrison, 
" that, after much trouble, he had united all the western tribes under 
his lead and placed them under his direction ; that, in so doing, he 
had merely imitated the example set by the United States themselves, 
and claimed to have the same right to do this; that the murders 
spoken of ought to be forgiven, since the Indians had suffered similar 
injuries at the hands of the whites; and lastly, that the Indians were 
going to reoccupy, in autumn, their ancient hunting-ground, at Tippe- 
canoe, which the Americans were then about surveying/' The 
Governor replied, " that the President would put his warriors in pet- 
ticoats sooner than give up the country he had fairly acquired, or to 
suffer his people to be murdered with impunity." 

Whereupon, Tecumseh left him, and shortly afterwards resumed 
his travels among his countrymen. 

In the meantime, his brother, the prophet, collected around him- 
self in Tippecanoe, the restless and daring spirits of every tribe, 
haranguing them daily, and protecting them, by a hundred charms, 
from the weapons of the white man, encouraging, rather than con- 
trolling, their lawless desires. Several murders were committed, and 
one of Gov. Harrison's own soldiers fired upon by the Indians. The 



44 HISTORY. 

Indians apparently intending hostilities, Gov. Harrison, with a force 
of nearly 1,000 men, proceeded to their village to restore peace, if 
necessar} T , by force of arms. He found their town, Tippecanoe, for- 
tified with great care, and on the 6th of September, 1811, encamped 
at the distance of a mile from it. The prophet had taught his fol- 
lowers to believe, that the village was wholly impregnable, and that 
in the coming contest the Great Spirit would strike the eyes of the 
Americans with blindness, and would make their bullets fall harmless 
at the Indian's feet. Encouraged by these assurances of their holy 
prophet, the savages, early on the morning of the 7th of September, 
sallied forth from their town, and attacked the camp of Gov. Harrison, 
with an apparent determination to conquer or to die. 

They encountered a desperate resistance, but believing themselves 
fated to conquer, continued the battle until daylight, when they were 
in their turn charged by the troops with the bayonet, and after a 
bloody conflict, driven into a swamp. The Indians lost 38 killed, be- 
sides a great many wounded; the Americans 60 killed and 120 
wounded. The town of the prophet was burnt, the corn in its vicinity 
destroyed, and the savages compelled to sue for peace. The exaspe- 
rated Indians abused and nearly killed the prophet, whose claims to 
magic power were forever destroyed. 

When Tecumseh returned and heard of this disastrous battle, which 
had been fought against his most positive orders, and saw his people 
dispersed, overpowered by indignation, and losing for a moment his 
wonted self-control, he reproached his brother in the most bitter terms, 
seized him by the hair, and came very near taking his life. His 
anger and disappointment we may readily understand, since, by 
striking the western Indians with terror, the battle of Tippecanoe 
resulted in postponing, if not wholly frustrating, the execution of the 
vast undertaking — to which he had devoted the best years of his 
noble manhood — of uniting all the Indian nations in a powerful con- 
federacy, which he was to direct and govern. After an interview with 
the Indian agent, during which he blamed Gen. Harrison for having 
made war upon his people during his absence, he departed to Canada 
to fight under the banners of the British, — not because he either 
loved or respected them, for this was impossible to him, who hated 
every white man without distinction, and only too well understood the 



• HISTORY. 45 

policy pursued by G-reat Britain towards his people, — but because, 
after the battle of Tippecanoe, he could expect no success in his un- 
dertaking against the Americans, unless by making the British inter- 
ested in them. 

The opportunity, which Tecumseh had so anxiously awaited, of 
avenging the injuries of his people upon the Americans, at last pre- 
sented itself. Ever since the close of the revolutionary war, the most 
illiberal policy was pursued towards the United States by Great 
Britain; desirous of repressing the growth of the republic, which 
already at that time threatened to become her great commercial rival, 
she violated every commercial and maritime right of the nation, and 
filled the measure of her arrogance by searching the American vessels 
on the high seas, impressing such as were unable to prove on the spot, 
that they were Americans, into her public service. Ignominious out- 
rages and atrocious injuries were thus inflicted by Great Britain upon 
the American people, until the latter, unless indeed willing to be con- 
sidered as her subjects, if not her slaves, found themselves compelled 
to declare war against her. A force of several regiments of regulars 
and militia was immediately raised, and placed at the disposal of Gen. 
Hull, who, on the 12th of July, 1812^ crossed the Canadian frontier, 
and issued a proclamation to the inhabitants, exhorting them to join 
his standard; but either from want of courage or lack of judgment, 
after "an inglorious occupation of less than a month/' withdrew his 
forces from the Canadian territory. 

Sir Isaac Brock was then Governor of Upper Canada, and com- 
mander of the British forces, which were then but small. They were 
afterwards considerably increased. Apprised at an early day of the 
declaration of war by Congress, he transmitted the intelligence at once 
to his outposts, and " ere the tardy and blundering movements of the 
American secretary had begun, his legions were in the field." Having 
collected a force of 300 English troops and 600 Indians, he arrived 
at Fort Mackinaw before the declaration of war was even known there, 
and compelled its small garrison of 58 men to surrender. 

About that time Capt. Brush, at the head of a company of volun- 
teers, reached the river Raisin with supplies for the army of Gen. 
Hull. As he did not dare to proceed any farther, the country around 
being infested with savages, Major Van Horn with 150 men was sent 



46 HISTORY. 

to escort him to head-quarters. He was attacked near Brownstown, 
by a large body of British regulars and Indians, and defeated, with a 
loss of 19 killed; whereupon Lieut. Col. Miller, with 800 regulars 
and 200 militia, was despatched to the relief of Capt. Brush. Though 
Col. Miller advanced with great caution, he fell into an ambuscade, 
being unexpectedly attacked by a party of British regulars, and In- 
dians, commanded by Tecumsehin person. The battle raged with 
great fury ; & bayonet charge, however, executed with great spirit by 
the Americans, drove back the British, whilst the Indians under 
Tecumseh maintained their ground, fighting with the most desperate 
valor. Unwilling, that their Indian allies should excel them in bra- 
very, the British returned to the charge, continuing the combat for 
two hours, after which they beat a hasty retreat. , The loss in killed 
and wounded amounted to about 100 men on either side. Lieut. Col. 
Miller, while in Brownstown, making preparations to pursue his march, 
received orders to return immediately to head-quarters. Gen. Hull, 
in order to secure himself a regular supply of provisions, and at the 
same time to keep open his communication with the Ohio, had fixed 
his camp at Detroit. The vigilant Sir Isaac Brock, perceiving the 
isolated and perilous position of G-en. Hull, appeared on the 15th of 
August, 1812, before Detroit, with about 1000 men, both regulars 
and Indians, and summoned Gen. -Hull to surrender. To the aston- 
ishment and indignation of the whole garrison, who, equal as they 
were in numerical force to the British, confidently expected to repel 
the latter with great slaughter, in case they should dare an attack, 
Gen. Hull, whom no doubt old age had rendered imbecile, ordered 
his troops to stack their arms, and surrendered, not only his own pre- 
cious person, but also the place, the Territory of Michigan, and all of 
the northwestern army under his command, to the British under Sir 
Isaac Brock, on the 16th of August, 1812. A provisional govern- 
ment having been established in Detroit under Col. Proctor, Sir Isaac 
Brock returned to Niagara, and in the second invasion of Canada by 
the Americans, was slain at the battle of Queenstown. 

The fall of Detroit was not- the only reverse the American arms 
were destined to sustain, before they should vindicate the cause of their 
country by splendid victories. Other forts, more remote, and, owing 
to tho utter incompetence of Gen. Hull, but miserably provided for, 



HISTORY. 47 

had to be abandoned to the British, and at the very time of the fall 
of Detroit, Chicago was the theatre of barbarous cruelties and a savage 
massacre, in which its garrison was nearly exterminated. Chicago 
was then but a small fort, which the United States government had 
erected in 1804, in order "to supply the Indians' wants and to con- 
trol the Indians' policy." Sixty men, under the command of Capt. 
Heald, constituted the whole of its garrison. Gen. Hull, who, as 
commander of the Northwestern army, was also entrusted with the 
defence of the forts of the Northwestern Territory, despatched a 
friendly Indian to Chicago with such orders as could only emanate 
from such a man, directing Capt. Heald to evacuate the fort, 
and to distribute all of the United States property, arms and 
ammunition included, among the neighboring Indians, and repair 
to Fort Wayne. This Indian arrived on the 7th of August, and 
urged Capt. Heald to evacuate -the fort without a moment's 
delay, before the Pottawatomies, a numerous and warlike tribe, 
through whose country they had to pass, could receive intelligence, 
and collect a force sufficient to harass him on his march. Capt. 
Heald neglected to follow this prudent advice, so that at the time he 
read the order of evacuation to his troops, the Indians were already 
apprised of his intentions. Several of the officers of Capt. Heald, 
considering his project as little short of madness, remonstrated against 
it, urging Capt. Heald to remain in the fort, and to strengthen it as 
well as possible -, but in obedience to the order of Gen. Hull, Capt. 
Heald insisted upon marching out. Although the Indians of the 
adjacent villages had already become troublesome, and manifested 
symptoms of hostility, so infatuated was Capt. Heald, as to hold, on 
the 12th of August, a council with them, in which he requested them 
to escort him to Fort Wayne, promising large rewards on their arri- 
val thither, in addition to the goods, ammunition and provisions they 
were to receive, in pursuance of the absurd order of Gen. Hull. On 
the next day Capt. Heald distributed the goods in the factory store 
among the Indians, but being struck with the folly of delivering to 
them arms and ammunition, which they might use against the Ameri- 
cans, or liquor, which might arouse their savage temper, emptied the 
liquor into the stream flowing near by, and destroyed of arms and 
ammunition whatever was not required for immediate use. Notwith- 



48 HISTORY. 

I 

standing all the precautions which had been taken, the Indians per- 
ceived what had been going on, and on the following day, when again 
meeting Capt. Heald in council, reproached him in the severest terms 
for having violated his promises. After the council had adjourned, 
Black Partridge, one of their chiefs, repaired to Capt. Heald, and de- 
livered to him a medal, given him by the Americans as a token of 
friendship, assigning as the reason for so doing, that he could no longer 
restrain his warriors, and would not wear a token of peace when com- 
pelled to act as an enemy. Information was also received from ano- 
ther Indian chief, that the Pottawatomies, who had promised to pro- 
tect the troops, could not be trusted. 

Notwithstanding these repeated warnings, Capt. Heald, at the head 
of his garrison, marched out of the fort on the morning of the 15th, with 
the families and baggage of the soldiers, and the invalids, being followed 
in the rear by about 500 Pottawatomies, who Were to escort the troops 
to Fort Wayne. Whilst the soldiers pursued their march, the Potta- 
watomies suddenly left the road, and turning the flank of the troops, 
poured in a volley of musketry upon them. The treacherous plot of 
the Indians could no longer be mistaken. The battle at once became 
general ; the Americans fought with the greatest gallantry, till two- 
thirds of their number were slain ; the remainder, 27 in all, surren- 
dered, after stipulating for the safety of their families and themselves. 
In the hurry of the moment, the wounded prisoners were not thought 
of; therefore the Indians, considering them as Excluded from the 
stipulation, tomahawked and butchered them with the most savage 
ferocity, during the following night, when they had returned with their 
captives to their camp, near the fort. A soldier, mortally wounded, 
and writhing in agony on the ground, was attacked with a pitchfork 
by an old squaw, and literally stabbed to death. Another of the 
savages, in direct violation of the treaty, assailed a baggage-wagon, 
and massacred and scalped in cold blood the children who were within, 
twelve in number. Whilst many other atrocities of a like nature 
were committed by the blood-thirsty savages, it is but just to observe, 
that a few of them, amongst whom Black Partridge, the magnanimous 
chief, was the most conspicuous, did the utmost in their power to save 
the lives or soothe the sufferings of their prisoners. Capt. Heald and 
his wife, the former twice, the latter seven times wounded, were nobly 



HISTORY. 49 

released by the Indian, who had taken them prisoners, and afterwards 
conveyed to Detroit. The soldiers, with their families, were dispersed 
among the Pottawatomies, and eventually ransomed; the fort was 
plundered and burnt to ashes. 

These repeated disasters, and the actual occupation of Michigan,, 
Northern Illinois and Mackinaw, by the British, aroused the nation 
to extraordinary efforts. Whole regiments and large bodies of volun- 
teers were raised and equipped in a surprisingly short time. Gen. 
Hopkins and Gen. Edwards, of Illinois, undertook expeditions against 
the Indians of the Illinois and Wabash rivers, many of whom had 
participated in the massacre at Chicago. They destroyed several of 
their villages, and laid waste their fields, thus punishing them for the 
cruelties they had perpetrated at Chicago. 

Appointed by Congress in the latter part of the year 1812, com- 
mander of the Northwestern army, Gen. Harrison undertook to drive 
the British from the Northwestern Territory • nothing was achieved, 
however, except the reduction of Fort Defiance, by Gen. Winchester., 
the next in command. 

Thus terminated the land campaign of 1812. 

On the sea, contrary to expectation, the Americans had been sig- 
nally successful, and in three decisive engagements had humbled the 
flag of the proud mistress of the seas. 

Early in the year 1813, the inhabitants of Frenchtown notified 
Gen. Winchester, that a large body of British and Indians were ho- 
vering about their town, and requested him to relieve them. Yield- 
ing to the entreaties of his volunteers, Gen. Winchester moved to the 
town, but. before he arrived thither with the main body of his army, 
his vanguard, under Cols. Allen and Lewis, had attacked the British 
and Indians, and after a severe conflict, expelled them from the town. 
Two days after having joined his troops, on the 22d of January, he 
was assailed by nearly double the number of British and Indians. 
He was taken prisoner, and his troops, after a desperate defence, in 
which nearly one half of them, about 300, were killed, finding farther 
resistance useless, surrendered, under promise of protection from Col. 
.Proctor, the commander of the British force. The unfortunate troops 
paid dearly for their reliance on British faith ; being delivered up to 
the Indians to be brought in the rear of the army to Maiden, in Upper 
5 D 



50 HISTORY. 

Canada, they were, with scarce an exception, massacred and toma- 
hawked by the blood-thirsty savages, without the interference of the 
British officers, who witnessed the scene. Their bleeding bodies were 
mutilated and scalped, and left to putrefy on the ground. But a very 
small remnant reached Fort Maiden alive. 

G-en. Harrison about that time had built a fort at the Rapids, 
which, in honor of the Governor of Ohio, he called Fort Meigs. He 
returned afterwards to Ohio for reinforcements. Receiving intelligence 
that the British threatened to attack Fort Meigs, he repaired thither, 
and was besieged by a powerful force under the former Col. Proctor, 
whom the British government, by way of approving his barbarous, 
fiend-like cruelty, had then promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. 
Gen. Clay, from Kentucky, marched to the relief of Gen. Harrison 
with 1200 men. Before reaching the fort, part of his troops, under 
Col. Dudley, were attacked and defeated by Tecumseh and Proctor, 
with a loss of 250 men; Col. Dudley himself being killed. Having 
driven the prisoners into a ruined fort, the Indians commenced a 
frightful slaughter among them, in presence of Gen. Proctor himself, 
and several of his officers, who seemed to delight at the inhuman 
spectacle. " While this carnage was raging," relates Drake, in his 
life of Tecumseh, "a thundering voice was heard in the rear, and in 
the Indian tongue; and on turning round, Tecumseh was seen ad- 
vancing on horseback with the utmost speed to where two Indians had 
an American down, and were in the act of killing him. He sprang 
from his horse, caught one by the throat, the other by the breast, and 
threw them to the ground ; and drawing his tomahawk and scalping 
knife, he ran in between the Americans and Indians, daring any one 
of the hundreds that surrounded him to attempt the murder of another 
American. They were all confounded, and immediately departed. 
He then demanded where Proctor was, and eyeing him at a distance, 
sternly inquired why he had not put a stop to the inhuman massacre. 
1 Sir/ said Proctor, 'your Indians cannot be commanded/ * Begone/ 
thundered Tecumseh : ' You are unfit to command ; go and put on 
petticoats !' " 

On the '9th of May the siege of Fort Meigs was raised. Proctor 
departed with all his forces, but soon returned with reinforcements, 
this time selecting Fort Stephenson as the theatre of savage massacre. 



HISTORY. 51 

He summoned the garrison to surrender; but they, determined to be 
cut to pieces sooner than to entrust their persons to his tender mer- 
cies, returned for answer : " When the fort shall be taken, there will 
be none left to massacre, as it will not be given up while a man is 
still alive." He then made an assault upon the fort, and was repulsed 
once, with a loss of 150 men, by a force scarcely a tenth of his own, 
not daring another assault. 

On the 10th of September, a splendid naval victory was gained on 
Lake Erie, by the gallant Commodore Perry, in which the whole 
British squadron, consisting of six vessels, were captured, and more 
prisoners taken, than there were men in Perry's whole fleet. By this 
decisive victory the road to Canada was effectually opened, and Gen. 
Harrison, reinforced by a body of 4000 volunteers, under the com- 
mand of Col. Johnson, was enabled to invade Canada without further 
delay. He advanced against Fort Maiden, but on his arrival thither, 
found that it had been destroyed by G-en. Proctor, and that the latter, 
together with the gallant Tecumseh and his warriors, had retreated to 
the Moravian towns. After delivering the Northwestern Territory 
from the odious presence of the British, and hoisting again the Ame- 
rican flag on the ramparts of Detroit, Gen. Harrison set out in pursuit 
of Gen. Proctor, reaching him on the banks of the river Thames. 
Determined to make his last stand here, Gen. Proctor, on the 7th of 
October, 1813, drew up in battle array his entire force of 800 of the 
line, and 2000 Indians; the greater part of the former, with the 
chief part of the artillery, occupied the left wing, resting on the 
river bank, and the Indians under Tecumseh the right wing, between 
two swamps. The position was skilfully chosen; Gen. Proctor, how- 
ever, who knew, that the Americans had a numerous and well-appointed 
cavalry force, committed a grave error in forming his troops in open 
order, with intervals of three or four feet between the files, since he 
might have foreseen, that his troops, thus drawn up, would be unable 
to resist a cavalry charge. 

Gen. Harrison, who had a force of 3500 men, inclusive of cavalry, 
with him, no sooner perceived the tactical error of the enemy, than 
he ordered two of his battalions of mounted men, of which one was 
under the immediate command of Col. Johnson, to the charge. So 
spirited and vigorous was the charge made by these troops, that at 



52 HISTORY. 

their first onset the rank and file of the British were scattered like 
leaves before the blast, and all the efforts of the British officers to 
form the broken ranks again, proved utterly unavailing. Seventy of 
the British regulars were killed and wounded, and more than 600 
taken prisoners. Gen. Proctor's escape was merely due to the fleet- 
ness of his horse. 

A far more serious trial awaited the Americans, who had to attack 
the Indians, commanded by the brave and noble Tecumseh. For 
although Col. Johnson succeeded in breaking their lines at the second 
charge, the Indians, unlike the British, disdaining to yield, continued 
the fight with desperate valor, and had nearly forced their way through 
the American lines, when they were repulsed with great slaughter by 
a regiment of Kentucky volunteers, led on by the intrepid Shelby. 
Still the Indians, to the number of 1200, stimulated to extraordinary 
efforts by their beloved commander, whose voice could be distinctly 
heard in every part of the battle, continued the combat, with heroic 
self-devotion, gathering round their illustrious chief, with an apparent 
determination to conquer or die by his side. But after Proctor's 
defeat, the event of the battle could no longer be doubtful. Unwil- 
ling to survive the slaughter of his countrymen, the generous Tecum- 
seh fell, nobly battling at their head. About the same time Col. 
Johnson, conspicuous by the white horse he rode, was pierced by 
several balls, and fell. The Indians, whom the voice and example of 
Tecumseh could no longer animate, at last gave way on every side. 
Where Tecumseh had fallen, 36 men, both whites and Indians, were 
found literally cut and stabbed to pieces. 

Thus fell Tecumseh, no doubt the greatest and most exalted of his 
race, and respected by all his enemies as a great and magnanimous 
chief. To a powerful intellect uniting the soul of a hero, he was in 
war the bravest of the brave, most eloquent in council, and generous 
and humane in every one of his acts. He died the greatest champion 
of his people ; his death deprived them of their last protector, and 
sealed their doom forever. 

Long afterwards his grave was to be seen beside a large fallen oak. 
He was there left alone in his glory. The British government having 
previously appointed him a brigadier-general, afterwards granted a 
pension to his mourning family. 

The victory at the Thames, the fall of Tecumseh, and the inglorious 



/ HISTORY. 53 

defeat of Proctor, terminated the war in the Northwestern Territory, 
which was once more united to the republic, never again to be sepa- 
rated from it. The middle and northern part of Illinois for some 
time continued to be afflicted with the depredations of the Sacs, 
Foxes, Shawnees, Kickapoos, and other Indian nations, but peace 
being at length concluded between Great Britain and the Republic, 
on the , 24th of December, 1814, the savages, abandoned by Great 
Britain, were soon brought to terms. 

On the 20th of May, 1812 ; Illinois, for the first time, sent a dele- 
gate to Congress. The right of suffrage was extended to all its inha- 
bitants, and the property qualification required by the ordinance of 
1787 in the voter, was abolished. By this ordinance the President 
appointed a Governor, who held his office for three years, resided in 
the district, and had a freehold estate of 1000 acres of land ; a Sec- 
retary for four years, who resided in the district, and had a freehold 
estate of 500 acres of land; and a Court of three judges, to reside in 
the district, and have, each of them, a freehold estate of 500 acres of 
land. The governor and the judges had power to adopt and publish 
such laws of the original States as were necessary and best adapted 
to the circumstances of the territory, and the governor was to have 
also the power of appointing all magistrates, civil officers, and all mili- 
tary officers under the rank of brigadier-general, and of dividing the 
district into counties and townships. 

This was the form of government under which- Illinois was ruled 
from 1809-1812. 

In 1812 the governor was appointed and commissioned as before, 
but a Legislative Council of five members, and a House of Repre- 
sentatives, elected by the people, were now authorized to make laws 
" for the government of the district, not repugnant to the principles 
and articles established and declared in the ordinance above alluded 
to." The Legislative Council was appointed by the President and 
Senate, and commissioned by the former, from a list of 10 persons to 
be furnished by the House of Representatives in the district. A dele- 
gate to Congress was also elected by the people. In this manner the 
Territory was governed from 1812-1818, Ninian Edwards continuing 
as governor during that time. 

The population of the Territory in the year 1812 did not exceed 
5* 



54 HISTORY. 

12,000 souls. After the termination of the war in the year 1814, 
people began to arrive from the old States. They brought money 
with them, — quite a novelty to the people of Illinois, — for till then 
the skins of the deer had answered, with that primitive people, the 
purpose of a circulating medium ; and introduced some changes into 
the habits and customs of the people. Education and learning, how- 
ever, were still much neglected. There were few schools ; in these 
few nothing but reading, writing, and the four cardinal rules of arith- 
metic, were taught. Scientific and professional men came from 
abroad. Of preachers, it is true, they had many that were born and 
brought up in the country, but their chief excellence consisted not in 
the profundity of their learning, which was wholly made up by a 
superficial knowledge of the gospel, but rather in the power of their 
lungs, the rapidity of their gesticulations, and the skill, with which 
they were wont to spin out a few barren ideas into a sermon of aston- 
ishing length, overladen with florid bombast. Their enthusiasm knew 
no bounds ; by reason whereof many.of them turned fanatics. Unlike 
our modern divines, they would, in times of scarcity, preach gratui- 
tously, and be satisfied with the coarsest food; often they would 
accost and warn strangers, whose souls these poor fanatics imagined 
they saw rushing into the fire of eternal damnation. Of the fine arts, 
even the art of singing was unknown. The attempt of a New Eng- 
land singing master to introduce better music among the Iilinoisians, 
resulted in a disastrous failure ) for at the very first lesson he gave, 
his pupils, in spite of all his remonstrances, cried at the top of their 
voices, producing a deafening noise, which proving too much for his 
feeble constitution, forced him to desist from the enterprise. 

The occupations of the people were still those of farming or hunt- 
ing. They raised their own provisions, and often supplied their wants 
in a manner that shows them not deficient in originality and fertility 
of genius. To illustrate this, the example may be quoted of a 
farmer of the name of Lemon, who on a certain day turned out to 
plough, and, missing his horse-collar, which his waggish son had 
hidden, being perplexed for but a moment, in the twinkling of an eye 
pulled off his leathern breeches, stuffed them, and straddled them 
across the horse's neck, ploughing lustily all day, without any covering 
to hide his natural inferiorities from the prying eye of an insoleut 
criticising curiosity. 



CHAPTER III. 

Up to the year 1818 the population of the Territory of Illinois had 
increased to about 50,000 inhabitants. At the commencement of that 
year, the people of the Territory unanimously resolved to have Illi- 
nois admitted into the Union as an independent State, and ordered 
Nathaniel Pope, their delegate to Congress, to take measures to that 
effect. Nathaniel Pope brought the subject at once before Congress, 
and reported a bill thereon. About that time the danger, already 
vaguely apprehended before, of the dissolution of the confederate 
States of the Republic, had assumed a very threatening aspect. Na- 
thaniel Pope justly observed, that if Illinois, which, by reason of the 
great extent of its territory, its fertile soil, and the facilities it offered 
for the support of a crowded population, was destined to become a 
chief instrument either in the preservation or in the dissolution of the 
Union, — was given a large boundary on the Northern Lakes, the 
increase of the commerce on which was very confidently expected, 
then, united as Illinois already was by the bonds of interest to the 
States west of the Mississippi, it would also become connected by the 
closest ties of business and commerce with the Eastern States, and 
thus be bound to sustain the Federal Union forever; whilst, on the 
other hand, if no such extensive territory should be given to her, the 
interests of the State would compel her to enrol herself among the 
States of a new Southwestern confederacy, whenever the Union 
should be dissolved. Nathaniel Pope's views met the full approbation 
of Congress, and the bill, in virtue of which the Territory of Illinois 
was to be raised to the rank of an independent State, was passed as a 
law, in the month of April, 1818 ; it granted to Illinois the extension 
of her northern boundary to the parallel of 42° 30' north latitude, 
and the privilege of applying the money arising from the sale of the 
public lands, to the encouragement of learning within the borders of 
the State. 

(55) 



56 HISTORY. 

Congress having passed this act, a Convention, of which Elias K. 
Kane, a lawyer, was the leading member, was convoked during the 
summer of 1818 in Illinois, to form its Constitution. By this Con- 
stitution the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor were required to have 
been citizens of the United States for 30 years previous to their elec- 
tion. The qualifications for the office of Lieutenant-Governor were 
afterwards in so far modified, that any citizen of the United States 
who had resided in the State for two years, could be elected to that 
office. Power was vested in the Governor to nominate, and in the 
Senate to confirm all officers, except those, whose appointments had 
already been provided for by the Constitution, including also the 
Judges of the Supreme and Inferior Courts, State Treasurer, and 
Public Printer. The Convention, however, in order to please a favorite 
of theirs, inserted a schedule in the Constitution, declaring " that an 
Auditor, Attorney-General, and other officers of the State, may be 
appointed by the General Assembly." This schedule was productive 
of innumerable intrigues and quarrels between the Governors and the 
Legislature, which ended in the Legislature, who had at first contented 
themselves with electing an Auditor and Attorney-General, depriving 
the Governor, as was the case with Gov. Duncan, of the power of 
appointing any public officers, save notaries public and public admin- 
istrators. 

Shadrach Bond, a farmer by occupation, and a man of plain com- 
mon sense, without pretensions to a refined education, who had already 
been several times elected to the Territorial Legislature, and once as 
a delegate of the Territory to Congress, was elected the first Governor, 
and entered upon the discharge of his duties in October, 1818. At 
the same time, the Legislature assembled in Kaskaskia. In his first 
message to the Legislature, he earnestly recommends the construction 
of the canal, which was to run through Illinois, and to connect the 
Mississippi with Lake Michigan. He died in the year 1834. 

The Legislature convened in Kaskaskia elected Joseph Philips, a 
lawyer by profession, who had been a captain in the United States 
Army, and afterwards Secretary of State to the Territory, as Chief 
Justice; and John Reynolds, Thomas C. Brown, and William P. 
Foster, a great rascal, who soon resigned his office, as Associate Jus- 
tices of the Supreme Court. Ninian Edwards, and Jesse B. Thomas, 



HISTORY. 57 

who had been chosen President of the Convention, were* elected first 
Senators. Daniel P. Cook was appointed first Attorney-General, 
Elias K. Kane, Secretary of State, John Thomas, State Treasurer, and 
Elijah C. Berry, Auditor of public accounts. 

Having thus organized the State Government, the Legislature ad- 
journed to meet again in winter, at which adjourned session they 
elaborated and adopted a Code of Statute Law, mostly collected and 
made up from the Statutes of Kentucky and Virginia. This first 
Code was altered and amended several times, till in 1827 a revised 
copy was published. It contained a most important act concerning 
negroes and mulattoes. The early Legislatures of Indiana and Illi- 
nois had not been hostile to the introduction of slavery, but had 
allowed emigrants to bring their slaves with themj these, if they 
voluntarily consented to serve their master for a term of years, were 
then held to perform their contract, but if they refused to consent, 
might be removed by their masters out of the territories in sixty days. 
Children of such slaves were registered, and bound to serve their mas- 
ters, until they were 32 years old. This first Legislature of the State 
of Illinois, enacted laws as severe and stringent as could be found in 
a Slave State, where the number of negroes is equal to, or greater than 
that of the whites ; though, in fact, the negroes constituted but a very 
small portion of the population of Illinois. These laws, which were 
passed by men from the Slave States, and were intended to preserve 
the purity of the white race, by discouraging free negroes from settling 
in Illinois (which they effectually did), have now become a dead let- 
ter, having never been carried into effect within the memory of the 
present generation. 

The Legislature and Government removed to another place on the 
Kaskaskia River, which was afterwards called Yandalia, owing to the 
information imparted by some wag to the Commissioners who were 
surveying the ground for the new seat of government, that the name 
of Vandalia would not only sound very agreeably, but at the same 
time perpetuate the memory of the Yandals, once a powerful and 
warlike, but now extinct Indian nation ; on the strength of which 
information the Commissioners, believing: the same to be correct, and 
not troubling themselves much about matters of history, adopted the 



58 HISTORY. 

name proposed to them, which has ever since inflicted some slight 
stigma upon the character of the people inhabiting the place. 

As already mentioned, upon the conclusion of the war of 1812, 
emigrants began to arrive from the Eastern States, and settle in Illi- 
nois; they brought money with them, which soon superseded the 
skins of the deer and of the raccoon as a circulating medium, and 
brought about a radical change in the material condition of the peo- 
ple, by creating new desires, and especially a mad desire for specu- 
lating in lots and lands. At that time the United States sold land at 
two dollars per acre, eighty dollars on the quarter section, to be paid 
cash down on the purchase, and the residue payable in five years. 
Everybody was eager to buy at that price, confidently expecting to be 
able to sell the lands, with the houses and other improvements thereon, 
at a large profit, to the immigrants who were sure to arrive. This 
proceeding was proudly styled " developing the infant resources of a 
new country." Several banks were incorporated, and speculation ran 
high, being favored by the circumstance, that money was then very 
abundant, and in consequence, every man's credit very good. Lots 
were purchased on credit, and towns laid out, all over the country; 
if money could not be had, notes were taken in place of, and consi- 
dered as good as cash, until, two years afterwards, in the year 1820, 
the entire population had become indebted to a vast amount. The 
immigrants, whose arrival had been so anxiously looked for, did not 
come, the lots and houses could not be sold, and the price of the lands 
purchased of the United States remained unpaid. Bank notes, and 
paper of every kind and description, had long since driven the specie 
out of circulation, since it could be far more easily supplied to any 
amount wanted by notes, and nobody was willing to pay in cash, what 
he could pay for in paper. Commerce being then utterly insignificant, 
nothing was exported; and the people, being left to settle their debts 
among themselves, began to sue one another, though without any 
prospect of recovering their amounts, since, in consequence of the 
total absence of money, even the richest man would have found it im- 
possible to satisfy his creditors. 

To put an end to these prying evils, a State Bank, with several 
branches, was created by the Legislature of 1821 ; which bank, being 
wholly supported by the credit of the State, was to issue one, two, 



HISTORY. 59 

three, five, ten and twenty dollar notes, bearing two per cent, per 
annum, and payable by the State in ten years. It was the duty of 
the bank to advance, upon personal property, money to the amount 
of $100, and a larger amount upon real estate mortgages, to anybody, 
who should require such a loan. All taxes and public salaries could 
be paid in such bills, and if a creditor refused to take them, he had 
to wait three years longer before he could collect his debt. The peo- 
ple imagined, that simply because government had issued the notes, 
they would remain at par, and although this could evidently not be 
the case, were yet so infatuated with their project as actually to request 
the United States G-overnment to receive them in payment for the 
public lands. Although there were not wanting men who, like John 
McLean, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, foresaw the 
danger and evils likely to arise from the creation of such a bank, by 
far the greater part of the people were in favor of it; the new bank 
was therefore started, and began to transact business in the summer 
of 1821. The new issues of bills by the bank, of course, only aggra- 
vated the evil, heretofore so grievously felt, of the absence of specie, 
so that the people were soon compelled to cut their bills in halves and 
quarters, in order to make small change in the trade. And further, 
most persons tried to borrow as much money from the bank as they 
could, considering whatever they got as clear gain, never pretending 
to pay it afterwards. And finally, the paper currency so rapidly de- 
preciated, that three dollars in these bills were only considered worth 
one dollar in specie, so that the State not only did not increase its 
revenues, but lost full two-thirds of them, and expended three times 
the amount required to pay the expenses of the State Government. 

In the year 1822, the term of office of the first governor, Shadrach 
Bond, expired. The question, which then agitated the whole Union, 
whether Missouri was to be admitted into the Union as a Slave State 
or not, had resulted in starting two parties in Illinois, one favorable, 
the other hostile to the introduction of slavery, each proposing a can- 
didate of their own for governor. Although the slave party did every- 
thing in their power to secure the election of their candidate, and 
could boast of many of the most influential men in the State as be- 
longing to their party, the people at large being decided, as they ever 



60 HISTORY. 

since have been, in favor of a Free State, Edward Coles, an anti- 
slavery man, was elected. 

The Legislature, at their next session (1824-1825), ordered that 
the Supreme Court, consisting of four judges, should be held twice a 
year at the seat of government, and created five judges to hold all the 
Circuit Courts in the State, each of whom was maintained at a yearly 
salary of $600, while each of the Supreme Court Judges received 
$800 per annum. Considering this to be an extravagant outlay of the 
public money, the people were so clamorous for a reduction of it, that 
the Legislature of 1826-7 annulled and repealed the act passed by 
their predecessors, discharged the Circuit Judges, and ordered the 
Judges of the Supreme Court to hold the Circuit Courts instead of 
them. 

The same Legislature of 1824-1825 appointed, by another law, the 
Judges of the Supreme Court to revise the laws, and to present the 
new revision to the Legislature at their next session. 

Senator Duncan, afterwards governor, presented to the Legislature 
a bill for the support of schools by a public tax; and William S. 
Hamilton presented another bill, requiring a tax in proportion to 
property, to be used for the purpose of constructing and repairing the 
roads ; both of which bills passed the Legislature and became laws. 
But although these laws conferred an incalculable benefit upon the 
public, by highly improving both the condition of the schools and the 
roads, the very name of a tax was so odious to the people, that rather 
than pay a tax of even the smallest possible amount, they preferred 
working as they formerly did, five days during the year on the roads, 
and would allow their children to grow up without any instruction at 
all. Consequently both laws were abolished, and the former system 
restored, by the Legislature, at their session of 1826-1827. 

In the year 1826 the office of Governor became again vacant. 
Ninian Edwards and Adolphus Frederick Hubbard, were the principal 
candidates for it. Ninian Edwards, a lawyer by profession, and Go- 
vernor of Illinois Territory for the nine years previous to its admission 
into the Union as a sovereign State, had made himself many enemies 
by urging strict inquiries to be made into the corruption of the State 
Bank, so that, had it not been for his talents and noble personal ap- 
pearance, he would most probably not have been elected. In a con- 



HISTORY. 61 

test for office with a man of the talents of Ninian Edwards, Adolphus 
Frederick Hubbard, if judged merely by his personal merits, had but 
little chance of coming off victor, although he himself claimed to be 
able to govern his fellow-citizens as well as anybody else; which, 
moreover, in his opinion, did not require a " very extraordinary smart 
man." Of this same man, tradition has preserved, among other cu- 
rious sayings, a speech on a bill granting a bounty on wolf-scalps, 
which we cannot withhold from the knowledge of our readers; we 
communicate the same just as it has been preserved. This speech, 
which Mr. Hubbard delivered before the Legislature, is as follows : 
u Mr. Speaker, I rise before the question is put on this bill, to say a 
word for my constituents. Mr. Speaker, I have never seen a wolf. 
I cannot say, that I am very well acquainted with the nature and 
habits of wolves. Mr. Speaker, I have said, that I had never seen a 
wolf. But now I remember, that once on a time, as Judge Brown 
and I were riding across the Bonpas prairie, we looked over the 
prairie about three miles, and Judge Brown said, ' Hubbard, look, 
there goes a wolf. J And I looked, and I looked, and I looked, and I 
said, 'Judge, where?' And he said, 'There;' and I looked agsfin, 
and this time, in the edge of a hazel thicket, about three miles across 
the prairie, I think I saw the wolfs tail. Mr. Speaker, if I did not 
see a wolf that time, I think I never saw one. But I have heard 
much, and read more, about this animal. I have studied his natural 
history. By-the-bye, history is divided into two parts; there is first 
the history of the fabulous, and secondly, of the non-fabulous, or un- 
known ages. Mr. Speaker, from all this sources of information, I 
learn that the wolf is a very noxious animal : that he goes prowling 
about, seeking something to devour ; that he raises up in the dead and 
secret hours of the night, when all nature reposes in silent oblivion, 
and then commits the most terrible devastation upon the rising gene- 
of hogs and sheep. Mr. Speaker, I have done, and return my 
thanks to the house for their kind attention to my remarks." The 
primitive naivete, and wonderful ingenuity, as displayed in this re- 
markably choice speech, show better than anything else could have 
done, the state of civilization then existing in Illinois, especially when 
we bear in mind, that the speech was delivered by no less a personage 
than the Lieutenant-Governor himself. 
6 



62 HISTORY. 



till 

the 



Governor Edwards commenced his term in 1826. Remaining still 
as hostile to the old bank as ever, in his messages, he charged the 
officers of the bank with corruption and fraud. The friends and e 
ployees of the bank immediately took the alarm, and were certainly 
not remiss in retorting an equally disgracing charge upon the Gover- 
nor, by accusing him of base motives in having instituted an inquiry 
into the management of the bank. Their influence was so great, that 
the accusations of the Governor were at once dismissed as wholly de- 
void of proof of mismanagement on the part of the officers of the 
bank. 

Judges Lockwood and Smith, who had been appointed by the 
Legislature to revise the laws, presented' to them, during their 
session of 1826-1827, a newly-revised code of laws, which was 
adopted, and of which the principal laws have ever since remained in 
full force, although the code was revised several times subsequently. 

The Indians, who had remained quiet since the termination of the 
war of 1812, became again troublesome in the summer of the year 
1827. The Winnebagoes, Sacs and Foxes, and other Indian tribes, 
had been at war for more than a hundred years, and although the 
United States had tried to settle the feuds existing between them, 
these tribes nevertheless remained at bitter enmity with each other, 
being always ready to inflict, one upon the other, a maximum of 
injury. In the summer of 1827, a war-party of the Winnebagoes 
surprised a party of 24 Chippeways, and killed 8 of them. Four of 
the murderers were arrested, and delivered by the commander of the 
United States troops at St. Peter's, to the Chippeways, by whom they 
were immediately shot. This was the first irritation of the Winne- 
bagoes. They were further grieved at seeing the whites taking pos- 
session of their country; for many of them had penetrated into it as 
far as the Wisconsin river, in search of lead mines. Red Bird, a 
chief of the Winnebagoes, in order to avenge the execution of the 
four men of his own people, attacked the Chippeways, but was de- 
feated, and being determined to satisfy his thirst for revenge by some 
means, surprised and killed several white men. Upon receiving in- 
telligence of these Indian murders, the Ulinoisians who were working 
the lead mines in the vicinity of Galena, assembled in Galena, formed 
a body of volunteers, and, reinforced by a company of regular United 



HISTORY. 63 

States troops, marched into the country of the Winnebagoes. To 
save their nation from the miseries of war, Red Bird, and six others 
of the most influential men of his nation, voluntarily surrendered 
themselves prisoners of war ; part of them were executed, part of them 
imprisoned, and destined, like Eed Bird himself, ingloriously to pine 
away within the narrow confines of a jail, whereas formerly even the 
vast forests of their native country had proved too limited for their 
daring and adventurous disposition. 

Resenting the defeat he had sustained at the hands of his enemies, 
when pressing an investigation of the affairs of the old State Bank, 
Gov. Ninian Edwards devised another scheme to embarrass and annoy 
them. Hitherto the United States had enjoyed undisturbed possession 
of various public lands within the State of Illinois, But now, for the 
first time, Gov. Edwards, in a message delivered to the Legislature, 
claimed the whole of the public lands of the United States lying 
within Illinois, as belonging to the latter ; making good his claim by 
arguing, that inasmuch as Illinois had been admitted into the Union 
as an independent and sovereign State, all the lands within her own 
limits must necessarily belong to her. The measure was far from 
being unpopular, since the Legislature unanimously approved of it, 
although the people did not eventually enforce it. Gov. Edwards 
was mistaken, however, in imagining, that his enemies would oppose 
the bill, for on seeing the bill favorably received by the Legislature, 
and part of the public, being fearful to sacrifice their own popularity, 
they prudently abstained from throwing any obstacle into the way of 
the bill, and having learned from experience, that Gov. Edwards was 
too subtle an enemy for them to grapple with, never afterwards re- 
sisted any one of his measures. Gov. Ninian Edwards died in 1833. 

Of the public lands owned by the United States Government 
within Illinois, Congress had already granted 300,000 acres to the 
State, for the construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, being 
prevailed upon to make this grant by Daniel P. Cook, the first Attor- 
ney General, and then Senator to Congress, to whose active and un- 
ceasing exertions in behalf of the measure, the credit of the donation 
must be mainly attributed. Although Daniel P. Cook had thus ac- 
quired some claim upon the gratitude of his fellow-citizens, which 
might have caused him to be re-elected Senator in the year 1S26 ; 



64 



HISTORY. 



having rendered himself unpopular, on the other hand, by giving, in 
the year 1824, when John Quincy Adams, Gen. Jackson, William H. 
Crawford, and Henry Clay, being candidates for the Presidency, and 
none of them receiving a majority, it became the business of the 
House of Representatives to elect one of them, the vote of Illinois to 
John Quincy Adams, instead of to Gen. Jackson, then the general 
favorite of the people, he was defeated, and Mr. Joseph Duncan 
elected in his stead. 

At first Mr. Duncan manifested the greatest sympathy and attach- 
ment to Gen. Jackson, whose ardent admirer he was; but after Gen. 
Jackson had annulled the charter of the United States Bank, and 
denied the appropriation of money for the improvement of the Wa- 
bash river, Mr. Duncan began visibly to grow cold towards him, and, 
at last, became altogether estranged from him, ceasing to support his 
administration. Although Duncan was generally esteemed a man of 
honesty and upright principles, and could not be reproved for ad- 
hering to a particular opinion of his own in regard to a public matter, 
he was, nevertheless, severely blamed for his conduct by the friends 
and followers of Gen. Jackson, who were of opinion, that since they 
had put him in an office, by which he had grown rich, he should have 
remained faithful to the cause of Gen. Jackson, and that by abandon- 
ing the same, he had acted in a manner becoming only a man of a 
treacherous and ungrateful character. 

Since the repeal of the law introduced by Mr. Duncan, then a Sen- 
ator, for supporting the schools by a public tax, the Legislature sold 
the school lands, and applied the money arising from the sales to the 
payment of the school expenses. Still, the means provided by gov- 
ernment for education and instruction, would have been very insuffi- 
cient, had not Congress generously donated to the State one township 
of six miles square, and the thirty-sixth part of all the residue of the 
United States Government lands within the State, besides three per 
cent, of the net proceeds of the sales of the remainder. The Legis- 
lature ordered at first, that lands of the school section of each town- 
ship should be leased out, on payment of a certain rent, but the les- 
sees and newly-arrived immigrants, who had settled on these lands and 
were entitled to vote, wishing to establish themselves permanently, by 
their joint influence prevailed upon the Legislature, *the majority of 



HISTORY. 65 

whom needed their votes for the coming election, to discontinue col- 
lecting the taxes, to sell the lands, to borrow the proceeds of the sale 
and the three per cent, school fund from the counties, and to use them 
for the public service ; paying an annual interest, for the benefit of 
the schools, to the respective counties, on the moneys so borrowed. 
To meet the wants of the lessees, the lands were sold at low prices, 
in consequence of which the State incurred another debt, amounting 
to nearly half a million of dollars ; and the schools lost part of their 
revenues, all which might have been easily avoided, if the State had 
adopted a system of taxation, in order to defray all the expenses of the 
public instruction and education. 

Here it may not be improper to state the principal facts regarding 
the improvements, which, from the year 1820 to 1830, had been 
taking place in the manners and habits of the Illinoisians, their modes 
of thought, and the character of their institutions. 

Until the year 1820, the early preachers of Illinois enjoyed undis- 
puted sway over the minds of the people. In that year, several edu- 
cated and well-instructed ministers arrived from the Eastern States, 
whence they had been sent as missionaries, by several religious socie- 
ties Relying, at first, mainly upon the support afforded to them, in 
case of need, by these societies, they founded Bible Societies and 
Sunday Schools, and started a number of religious prints or tracts in 
the State, patiently waiting until the people should gradually become 
accnstomed to the new state of things. Their arrival caused no little 
uneasiness to the old preachers. Knowing, that from the moment 
their new rivals should have ingratiated themseles into the favor of 
the people, their own services would no longer be needed, they affected 
to deride the nice and fashionable dress of their young colleagues, 
whom they believed destitute of all religion, and whom they repre- 
sented', not without some good show of reason, to be utterly unfit to 
travel through the wilderness, sleep in the open air, suffer hunger and 
thirst, in short, to suffer the same privations which they themselves 
had suffered, while engaged in providing for the spiritual wants of the 
people. They openly and boldly accused the new ministers of being 
less concerned about the salvation of the souls of their flocks, than 
about the size of their purses, and of selling their bibles and tracts 
vwith a view of securing to themselves a handsome profit thereby. The 
6* E 



66 HISTORY. 

new ministers, paying no regard to their declamations, settled them- 
selves wherever a more refined style of preaching had become accept- 
able, and being satisfied with the salary offered to them, commenced 
building churches and organizing congregations. Success attended 
their enterprises, and their less erudite brethren were soon exiled from 
the towns into districts, where the people still believed the chief merits 
of an orator to consist in the power of his lungs, and the theatrical 
display of his gesticulations. A large part of the people, however, 
continued to be prejudiced against the new ministers, whom they for- 
bade to establish theological departments in any college or seminary, 
which had been built by them, and incorporated by an act of the 
Legislature. 

During the years from 1820 to 1830, a great change took place in 
the appearance and modes of dressing of the people. The coon-skin 
cap, the hunting-shirt, and leather breeches, the moccasins, and the 
belt around the waist, to which the butcher-knife and tomahawk were 
appended, had entirely disappeared before the modern clothing ap- 
parel. The women had exchanged their cotton and woollen frocks, 
manufactured, and striped with blue dye, by themselves, for modern 
dresses of silk and calico ; they had laid aside the cotton handkerchiefs, 
which formerly covered their heads, and adopted bonnets instead ; 
they would not, as formerly, walk barefooted to church, but would 
often be seen riding on fine horses to the house of worship. They 
would go to church flattering themselves with a secret hope, that they 
would make the best figure in the whole assembly, and outshine their 
neighbors by the brilliancy of their dress. To be able to gratify their 
ambition for fine dresses, they were obliged to become industrious and 
enterprising in business. The desire for fine dress soon also superin- 
duced a similar desire for polite society and knowledge, so that the 
old folks, who would have much preferred remaining undisturbed in 
their sluggish tranquillity and repose, thoroughly taken by surprise, 
everywhere uttered loud complaints, that the prodigalities, luxuries 
and innovations of the young, would speedily cause the ruin of the 
country. 

At the time, that such a rapid improvement was taking place in 
the manners and customs of the people, commerce comparatively made 
but little progress. Of steamboats, which had been introduced in 



HISTORY. 67 

the western country about the year 1816, the Illinoisians possessed 
but two small ones in 1830, which were running up the Illinois river 
as far as Peoria. A majority of the merchants of the country were 
retailers of dry-goods and groceries, who, with but a small amount of 
money and goods in their hands, sold only for cash, or notes payable 
on sight in cash, which they remitted to their Eastern creditors, so 
that they would have soon been drained of their last specie, had not 
the money of the newly-arrived immigrants supplied them again with 
the sinews of trade. Nothing was exported, save a few skins, hides, 
furs, with tallow and beeswax. The merchants of Illinois used to go 
to St. Louis to purchase Eastern exchange, but upon the suppression 
of the United States Bank in that city, these facilities of commerce 
no longer existed, and the traders of Illinois, when the high rates of 
premium had rendered it impossible for them to remit either money 
or bills of exchange to their Eastern creditors, were compelled to pur- 
chase the productions of ttae country, and to remit them to their 
creditors in place of cash. Most of the exports were shipped to New 
Orleans, at that time a place of inconsiderable importance. Since 
there were no merchants or express companies to forward the goods 
to market, the Illinoisian farmer would build his own boats, load them 
with his goods, and, with the assistance of a few men, isail down the 
river to New Orleans. After a long and troublesome voyage, he 
would arrive in New Orleans, only to fall an easy victim to the run- 
ners and sharpers, who abounded in that city, and to go home penni- 
less. On his return home he would find his farm neglected, and yet, 
notwithstanding this wholesome lesson, undertake, perhaps, another 
expedition to New Orleans at the earliest possible period. Even 
after, in consequence of the great improvements in steamboat navi- 
gation, excellent opportunities had been afforded to the people, not 
only to expand their commerce, but also their ideas about it, they 
still persevered in pursuing a narrow-minded, selfish commercial policy. 
They would, for instance, raise no surplus of produce, except when 
prices were high, and even then, perhaps, demand a higher price for 
their produce, than they could have sold it for in the market. They 
would never be in a hurry to sell, when prices were below their ex- 
pectations, but rather wait, even for the space of a whole year, until 
they should be able to sell at the prices they had fixed upon j or they 



68 HISTORY. 

would even cease producing altogether, when prices continued low. 
The necessary consequence of such a proceeding was, that by allowing 
their produce to waste away and rot, they would lose more money than 
they could have gained, even if they had sold it at the highest mar- 
ket price, and would incur still another loss by being obliged to bor- 
row money at high rates of interest, in order to pay for many neces- 
sities of life, or t6 carry on their enterprises, since, having sold 
nothing, they were often entirely destitute of money. However evi- 
dent the folly of their course might be to others, they could not be 
prevailed upon to abandon it, having, it appears, an unshaken confi- 
dence in the infallibility of their own judgment. 

In regard to the state of politics, of the government, and the ad- 
ministration of justice, the following appears worthy of notice. The 
majority of the Illinoisians were new immigrants, who had come with 
the avowed purpose of bettering their own condition. Bearing this 
fact in our mind, we shall not be surprised to hear, that they evinced 
an utter indifference for all matters connected with government, con- 
fiding these entirely to the hands of cunning politicians, in whose rule 
they seemed to acquiesce, provided the latter would leave them undis- 
turbed, and in possession of the largest personal freedom. The ori- 
ginal pioneers, though now but a small minority of the people, easily 
to be distinguished by their linsey shirts, leather breeches, moccasins, 
and the large butcher-knives in their belts, which knives were an in- 
dispensable* part of their dress, were apt to take a more active interest 
in politics, as appears from the predominating influence they exer- 
cised upon the elections, at which, by a mere parade of superior phys- 
ical force and reckless spirit, they would frequently decide the contest 
in favor of the candidate identified with their own party and interests. 
Politicians were very careful not to offend this class of men, known 
as the Butcher-Knife Boys; but, for the rest, taking advantage of the 
want of regard paid to politics by the people at large, secured to 
themselves nearly all the offices and emoluments of the government ; 
created others, the salaries of which* they diligently pocketed; passed 
laws for their own benefit, and whilst hypocritically pretending to 
watch over the welfare of the people, in whose name they governed, 
were' always ready to deceive them in the most shameful and barefaced 
manner. Nor were honest politicians and office-holders safe from 



HISTORY. 69 

their intrigues, for they knew how to gain the confidence of such 
honorable folks, by the most cunning devices and most artful ma- 
noeuvres, using them for their own purposes without their being aware 
of it. Thus it was, that Samuel Grozier, a man of most irreproach- 
able honor, and a member of the Senate, whom the politicians had 
used, with great success, as an instrument for the accomplishment of 
their own ends, without the slightest suspicion on his part, after hav- 
ing been in the Senate for two sessions, was heard to say, at the close 
of the second, that he " really did believe, that some intrigue had 
been going on." Such politicians, as by their polished and winning 
manners had gained the favors of credulous people, whom they after- 
wards imposed upon, in a slang phrase, were said to have u greased 
and swallowed their victims." 

The elections in Illinois during that time were at first by ballot, 
but as nobody was willing to make known, whom he had voted for at 
the elections, since, to vote against a candidate was then considered 
as a personal insult, and as balloting, by opening a vast field for in- 
trigue, fraud, and corruption, brought the system of voting thus into 
disgrace, the Legislature, at their session in the year 1828-9, made it 
unlawful to elect by ballot. 

The judiciary system of those times appears to have been a very 
simple one. People then did not require judges to be possessed of 
profound learning and erudition, but would be satisfied with one re- 
puted a man of sagacity and good common sense. The state of civili- 
zation then enjoyed by the country, and the small amount of business 
then transacted by the judges, not having yet rendered necessary the 
erection of large and splendid halls of justice, the judges would hold 
their courts in log-houses, or in the bar-rooms of inns, fitted up with 
temporary seats for the judges, lawyers, and jurors. It is related, that 
on the opening of the first Circuit Court held by Judge John Rey- 
nolds, the sheriff went into the court-yard and said to the people : 
"Boys, come in; our John is going to hold Court." Judges seem 
to have been considered as very amiable, harmless men. In faot, the 
judges, whenever they could do so, would leave the decision of a caso 
to the juries, lest they might give offence to any of the parties con- 
cerned, or expose their incompetence. They would tell the jury : 
"If the jury believe from the evidence, that such a matter is proved, 



TO HISTORY. 

then the law is so and so." One of these judges used to say to the 
lawyers asking him for instructions : " Why, gentlemen, the jury un- 
derstand the case ; they want no instructions ; no doubt they will do 
justice between the parties." The same judge once had to pronounce 
sentence of death upon a man by the name of Green. He said to 
him : " Mr. Green, the jury in their verdict say you are guilty of 
murder, and the law says you are to be hung. Now, I want you and 
all your friends down on Indian Creek to know that it is not I, who 
condemns you, but it is the jury and the law." He then asked him, 
what time he would like to be hung. The prisoner replied, he was 
ready to die at any time the Court would appoint. The judge then 
told the prisoner, that the Court would give him four weeks' time to 
prepare himself for death. The Attorney Qeneral of the State, who 
prosecuted the case, interposed here, and required the Court to state 
to the prisoner, the particular reasons of the judgment pronounced 
upon him. and solemnly to exhort him to repent and prepare for 
death. To this the Judge replied : " 0, Mr. Green understands the 
whole matter as well as if I had preached to him a month. He 
knows he's got to be hung this day four weeks. You understand 
that, Mr. Green, don't you ?" " Yes," said the prisoner, whereupon 
he was taken back to prison to await the day on which he was to be 
hung. 

Except during the period of the universal bankruptcy, the lawsuits 
were mostly small cases, actions for trespass, slander, indictments for 
assault and battery, riots, and unlicensed rum-selling; the latter oc- 
curring most frequently. Jurors were disposed to forgive minor 
oifences, and would even discharge a murderer, when it could be shown, 
that an altercation and an ungovernable fury had driven him to mur- 
der; but would always convict the murderer, who had assassinated his 
victim in cold blood, and in a cowardly, clandestine manner. The 
character of the Illinoisians was in many respects violent and im- 
petuous, which will account for the willingness on the part of jurors 
to dismiss indictments for assault and batteries, or even murder. This 
spirit of the Illinoisians is best shown in the following instance. In 
the year 1827, there was a very excited election for State Treasurer, 
in which the former occupant of the office was defeated. After the 
election the Legislature adjourned, but before they had left the hall, 



HISTORY. 71 

the defeated candidate walked in and gave a valiant thrashing to four 
of the strongest of his opponents, who had voted against him. Before 
him the members dispersed and scattered like sheep before the intru- 
ding wolf. He not only escaped unpunished for this offence, but 
during the same session was appointed Clerk of the Circuit Court, and 
Recorder of a county ; which will go far to show the respect in which 
physical force was at that day held by the Illinoisians. 

Whilst displays of physical force, bribes, and intrigues of all kinds, 
were thought by aspiring politicians to be very serviceable instruments 
for securing their election, the power of liquor was not overlooked by 
them. A candidate would frequently hire the taverns and liquor-stores 
for several weeks previous to the election, and furnish the people with 
liquor at his own expense. The people, of course, quite unwilling to 
miss so precious an opportunity of gratifying their taste for liquor, 
were sure to visit these taverns regularly every Saturday. 

The candidates would at first harangue the people from stumps of 
trees, whence the name of stump speeches j and after the addresses of 
the candidates had been delivered, all present would freely partake of 
liquor, until, a majority of them having become drunk, they would 
march about, raising loud shouts for their candidates, and making 
preparations to fight them into office, if necessary. Having satisfied 
their desire for free fights and pugilistic encounters, they would, at a 
late hour in the night, mount their ponies and gallop home. 

In the year 1830, the office of Governor becoming again vacant,. 
William Kinney, who belonged to the " whole bogs," a party devoted 
body and soul to Gen. Jackson, and Judge Reynolds, were the candi- 
dates for it; the former, who electioneered for himself, with the Bible 
in one hand, and a bottle of whiskey in the other, notwithstanding he 
was thus armed with " the sword of the Lord and of the Spirit," was 
defeated; and the latter, a man of fine talents, elected. 

At the same time a new Legislature was elected, a majority of whom 
were Jackson men. Upon this Legislature devolved the odious duty, 
the fulfilling of which had been so long prorogued and delayed by 
their predecessors, of making some provision for the redemption of 
the old " State Bank" notes, then nearly due. Whilst some mem- 
bers were fearful to be branded with infamy for neglecting, and others 
afraid of losing a hardly-acquired popularity, by fulfilling their duty, a 



72 HISTORY. 

majority of the Legislature, in both houses, convinced of the neces- 
sity of saving the honor of the State, authorized the famous Wiggins 
loan of $100,000, which being taken, the notes of the bank were re- 
deemed, and their popularity ruined, at the same time. 'Twas alto- 
gether in vain for them to apologize for their conduct ; the people, 
paying no regard to their representations, ducked every one of these 
unfortunate politicians in the tempest-ridden' sea of popular indigna- 
tion, and down they went, never to rise again. 

About this time serious Indian disturbances broke out, occasioning 
the celebrated Black Hawk war, which, as it marks quite an important 
epoch in the history of Illinois, will be described at length in the fol- 
lowing chapter. 



CHAPTER IV. 

In the year 1804, a treaty was concluded between the United States 
and the chiefs of the Sac and Fox nations, in virtue of which the 
Americans acquired, together with other territory, all the lands of 
these Indians on Hock river. One old chief of the Sacs, however, 
called "Black Hawk," who had fought with great bravery in the ser- 
vice. of Great Britain during the war of 1812, had always taken ex- 
ception to this treaty, and pronouncing it to be void, established him- 
self, with a chosen band of warriors, upon the disputed territory, 
ordering the white settlers to leave the country at once. The settlers 
complaining, Gov. Reynolds despatched Gen. Gaines, with a company 
of regulars and 1500 volunteers, to the scene of action ; taking the 
Indians by surprise, these troops burnt their villages, and forced them 
to conclude a treaty, by which they ceded all right and title to the 
lands east of the Mississippi, and agreed to remain on the western 
side of the river. Necessity had compelled the proud spirit of Black 
Hawk into submission, which made him more than ever determined 
to be avenged upon his enemies at the earliest possible moment. 
Having rallied around him the warlike braves of the Sac and Fox 
nations, he crossed the Mississippi river, in the spring of 1832, and 
directed his march into the countries of the Winnebagoes and Potta- 
watomies, intending to make them his allies. Upon hearing of the 
invasion, Gov. Reynolds hastily collected a body of 1800 volunteers, 
divided into four regiments, and a spy battalion, of which Col. Dewitt 
commanded the 1st, Col. Fry the 2d, Col. Thomas the 3d, Col. 
Thompson the 4th regiment, and Col. James D. Henry the spy bat- 
talion, while the command of the whole brigade was entrusted to 
Brig. Gen. Samuel Whiteside, of the State militia. 

The army marched to the Mississippi, and having reduced to ashes 
the Indian village known as " Prophet's Town," proceeded for several 
miles up the river to Dixon, to join the regular forces under Gen. 
7 (73) 



74 HISTORY. 

Atkinson, and to await the arrival of provisions. They found at 
Dixon two companies of volunteers, amounting to 275 men, who, 
sighing for glory, were despatched by G-en. Whiteside to reconnoitre 
the enemy. They advanced, under the command of Major Stillman, 
to a river afterwards called " Stillman's run," and whilst encamping 
there, espied a party of mounted Indians at the distance of a mile. 
Several of Stillman's party mounted their horses, and charged the 
Indians, killing three of them • but, attacked by the main body of 
the Indians under Black Hawk, they were routed in their turn, and 
by their precipitate flight spread such a panic through the camp, that 
the whole company ran off to Dixon as fast as their legs could carry 
them. On their arrival thither, eleven were missed, who had been 
killed by the Indians. At a council of war, immediately convoked 
by Gen. Whiteside, it was agreed to march back the next day to the 
battle-ground. Upon reaching the battle-field, Gen. Whiteside could 
discover no Indians; being short of provisions, he buried the dead, 
put up a rude board to their memory, and returned to Dixon, where 
Gen. Atkinson joined him with the regular forces. The whole bri- 
gade was now 2400 strong, so that the war would have been speedily 
brought to a close, had not a majority of the militia, whose term of 
service had expired, left the army, to attend to their affairs at home. 

The Indians in the meantime committing depredations everywhere, 
and massacring the inhabitants of some small frontier settlements, 
the Governor called out several new regiments of militia, one of which 
was sent in advance, to spy out the country between Galena and Rock 
river. This regiment, surprised by a party of 70 Indians, was on the 
point of being thrown into disorder, when Gen. Whiteside, then serv- 
ing as a private in the regiment, shouted out that he would shoot 
the first man, who should turn his back to the enemy. Order being 
at once restored, the battle began; at its very outset Gen. Whiteside 
shot the leader of the Indians, who thereupon commenced a hasty 
retreat. 

Up to the 15th of June, 1832, nearly 4000 volunteers had been 
organized j this force was fully sufficient, not only to prosecute the 
war, but, at the same time, keep in check various Indian tribes who 
seemed to evince much friendship to the cause of Black Hawk. 

About this time Black Hawk, with a band of 150 warriors, at- 



HISTORY. 75 

tacked the Apple Kiver Fort, situated 12 miles from Galena, and 
defended by 25 men. This fort, a mere palisade of logs, in the form 
of a square, the corners of which were flanked by block-houses, was 
erected to afford protection to the miners living in its vicinity, in case 
of an Indian war. For fifteen consecutive hours the garrison had to 
sustain the assaults of the savage enemy, but knowing very well, that 
no quarter would be given them, they fought with such fury and despe- 
ration, that the Indians, after losing a great many of their best warriors, 
were compelled to retreat. Galena itself had been threatened with 
an assault, but on learning the formidable state of its defences, the 
Indians did not dare to attack it. 

Another party of 11 Indians murdered two men near Fort Hamil- 
ton ) they were afterwards overtaken by a company of 20 men, under 
Gen. Dodge, and every man of them killed. 

About this time an engagement took place between Capt. Stephen- 
son, of Galena, and a party of Indians, who had taken up their posi- 
tion in a dense thicket of the prairie. A desperate charge was made 
upon the Indians by the whites, and a number of volleys fired by both 
parties, those of the whites taking no effect, whilst those which the 
ambushed Indians delivered, killed several of the whites, causing 
Capt. Stephenson, himself severely wounded, to order a retreat. 

Whilst the Indians were scattering their war-parties over the north- 
ern part of Illinois, cutting off the communication between the iso- 
lated frontier towns, the regular soldiers and newly-organized volun- 
teer regiments, under the command of Gen. Atkinson, assembled on 
the banks of the Illinois, in the latter part of June. Sent in ad- 
vance to explore the country, Major Dement fortified a camp at 
Kellogg' s Grove, in the midst of the Indian country; having sallied 
out with a small party to reconnoitre the movements of a large body 
of Indians, known to be somewhere in the vicinity of his camp, he 
suddenly found himself confronted by some 300 Indians, whose en- 
deavors to surround him made it advisable for him to retire to his 
camp. This the Indians attempted to storm, but after suffering severe 
losses in consequence of their exposure to the deadly fire of the men 
within, retreated, carrying their dead with them. Upon hearing of 
this engagement, Gen. Atkinson sent a detachment to intercept the 
ilying Indians, whilst he himself, with the main body of his army, 



76 HISTORY. 

moved into the territory of the Winnebagoes, to meet the Indian 
forces under Black Hawk, then said to have occupied a strongly for- 
tified position near the four lakes, with a determination to decide the 
fate of war by a general battle. The troops, all of whom were totally 
unacquainted with the nature of the country they were to enter, and 
unable to gather information with regard to it, since it was not deemed 
advisable to trust to the statements of the Winnebagoes, known to be 
much disposed to join Black Hawk, proceeded slowly and very cau- 
tiously through the country : and having passed through Turtle vil- 
lage, marched up along the Rock river to Burnt village, a considerable 
town of the Winnebagoes. On their arrival thither, news was brought 
of the discovery of the main trail of the Indians. Preparations were 
made to examine and follow it the next day. At an early hour of 
the morning, two soldiers, who had gone to the river, flowing at the 
distance of 150 yards from the camp, were shot by two Indians from 
the opposite bank, on being notified of which, Gren. Atkinson ques- 
tioned some of the Winnebagoes, who followed the camp: being in- 
formed by them, that the opposite bank was a large island, on which 
Black Hawk's entire war-party was fortified, he resolved first to send a 
detachment on the main trail, and afterwards to cross over to the 
island, where Black Hawk was reported to have entrenched himself. 
Part of the volunteers went, accordingly, in search of the trail, and 
after a most toilsome and arduous march over the so-called " trembling 
lands," which are large tracts of turf, about a foot in thickness, rest- 
ing upon water and beds of quicksand, having exerted themselves in 
vain to discover the trail, were obliged to return to Burnt village. 
Neither had the companies, who had crossed over to the island, and 
overrun it in every direction, been able to discover any vestige of 
Indians, save of the two, who had shot the two soldiers. 

Dissatisfaction soon became general among the volunteers, few of 
whom, before enlisting, had duly reflected upon the fatigue, drudgery, 
and great hardships of an Indian war, in an entirely unknown coun- 
try; and many of them either succumbed to the privations imposed 
upon them, or left the service altogether, while of the regular sol- 
diery not a single man had been lost. Those of the volunteers, who 
remained, had been so wasteful with their provisions, that, only four 
days' rations remaining in the hands of the commissioner, Gen. i£t- 



HISTORY. 77 

kinson found it necessary to disperse the troops to obtain provisions, 
sending Gens. Henry, Dodge, and Alexander, to Fort Winnebago, 
between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, whilst he himself, with the 
regular soldiers, went to Lake Kushkonong to erect a fort, where he 
could await the return of the volunteers with supplies. 

The volunteer generals reached Fort Winnebago within three days, 
and spent two more in obtaining provisions. Having been informed, 
on the second day, by the Winnebago chiefs, that Black Hawk, with 
his war-party, was encamped on Rock river, at the Manitou village, 
35 miles north of Gen. xltkinson, they resolved at once to advance 
upon the enemy j but in the execution of their design, they met with 
opposition on the part of their officers and men. The officers of Gen. 
Henry handed to him a written protest, but he, who never wanted 
presence of mind, even in the most critical situations, ordering the 
officers to be arrested and escorted to Gen. Atkinson, they at once 
resumed their duty, and were ever afterwards scrupulous in perform- 
ing it. Whilst Gen. Alexander, whose men were on the point of 
mutiny, fell back to Gen. Atkinson, Gen. Henry, who had the chief 
command of the residue of the troops, marched, on the 15th of July, 
with two Winnebago guides, in pursuit of the Indians, reaching Rock 
river after a three days' journey; where three Winnebagoes informed 
him, that Black Hawk was encamped further up the river. Hoping 
to be able to overtake the enemy, he despatched two messengers, with 
an Indian guide, to Gen. Atkinson, to notify him of his intended 
expedition. After travelling for eight miles, these messengers disco- 
vered the fresh trail of the main body of the Indians, and immedi- 
ately returned. Their Indian guide, who had got the start of them, 
arrived in the camp a little before them, and was just in the act of 
communicating the discovery to his treacherous countrymen, who, 
thunderstruck, attempted to leave, when all of them were arrested and 
marched off to Gen. Henry, whom, to avoid instant death, they mi- 
nutely advised of Black Hawk's doings. 

On the next morning, July 19th, the troops were ordered to com- 
mence their march, leaving their impediments and baggage in the 
rear. After having made 50 miles, they were overtaken by a terrible 
thunderstorm, which lasted all night, rendering it impossible for the 
men to cook a warm supper, or to sleep on dry ground. Nothing 
7* 



78 HISTORY. 

cooled, however, in their courage and zeal, they marched again 50 
miles the next day, encamping this time near the place where the 
Indians had encamped the night before. Hurrying along as fast as 
they could, the infantry keeping up an equal pace with the mounted 
force, the troops, on the morning of the 21st of July, crossed a river 
connecting two of the four lakes, by which the Indians had been 
endeavoring to escape. Finding, on their way, the ground strewn 
with kettles and articles of baggage, which the hurry of their retreat 
had obliged the Indians to throw away, the troops, inspired with new 
ardor, advanced so rapidly, that at noon of the same day they fell in 
with the rearguard of the Indians, which rallied several times, ex- 
changing shots with the vanguard of the troops, in order to afford- the 
main body of the Indians time enough to escape. The troops, who 
closely pursued them, were saluted with a sudden fire of musketry, by 
a body of Indians, who had concealed themselves in the high grass 
of the prairie. A line of battle being immediately formed, and the 
centre, which was led on by Gen. Henry himself, having just come up, a 
most energetic charge was made upon the Indians, who, unable to resist, 
retreated obliquely, in order to outflank the volunteers on the right. 
But the latter, reinforced by a detachment sent to their assistance, 
charged the Indians in their ambush, and expelling them from their 
thickets at the point of the bayonet, dispersed them along the Wis- 
consin river. Night having set in, the battle ended, having cost the 
Indians 68 of their bravest men, whilst the entire loss of the Illi- 
noisians amounted to but 1 killed and 8 wounded. 

On the day after the battle, the army retired to the Blue Mounds 
to obtain a fresh supply of provisions. A few friendly Winnebagoes 
volunteered their services as guides, which being accepted, the 
wounded men were placed on litters, and the army, after a march of two 
days, reached the Blue Mounds, where they were joined by the regu- 
lar forces, under Gen. Atkinson. Indignant, that the militia should 
earn the entire glory of the war, Gen. Atkinson, when, provisions 
having been procured, the pursuit of the Indians was resumed by Jbim, 
placed the regular soldiers in front, and" the division of Gen. Henry 
in the rear. Pursuit being recommenced, the troops toiled through 
dense forests and deep muddy ground, finding the road strewn with 
the corpses of Indians, who, from neglect of the wounds they had 



HISTORY. 79 

received in the Wisconsin river battle, had died on their retreat. The 
Indians reached the Mississippi some time before Gen. Atkinson's 
forces came up, but whilst making the necessary arrangements for 
crossing, happened to fall in with the armed steamboat " Warrior," 
the commander of which, Capt. Throckmorton, having summoned 
them in vain to come on board his steamer, greeted them with canister 
shot, and a brisk fire of musketry, causing the Indians severe losses, 
and delaying their crossing, so that Gen. Atkinson reached them, 
before they were able to pass over. Encamped at that time below the 
Red Axe river, on the Mississippi, the Indians despatched 20 of their 
men to stop the advance of Gen. Atkinson, and to enable theni to 
gain time for crossing the river. These men concealed themselves in 
the high grass, opening a sudden fire upon the vanguard of the regu- 
lar soldiers. Believing that he had the main body of the Indians 
before him, Gen. ^Atkinson made a vigorous charge with the regulars 
upon the concealed Indians, who, giving way at once, were closely 
pursued by him. But Gen. Henry, on coming up and discovering 
that the main trail of the enemy was running in a different direction 
from the one in which Gen. Atkinson pursued them, concluded that 
Gen. Atkinson had been misled by the wily savages, and resolved to 
follow up the main trail of the Indians himself. Having left his 
horses behind him, and formed an advance-guard of eight men to dis- 
cover the whereabouts of the enemy, he marched forward upon their 
trail. When these eight men had come within sight of the river, 
they were suddenly fired upon by some 50 Indians, and five of them 
killed, the remaining three maintaining their ground, until the main 
force, under Gen. Henry, had come up, when, in an instant, a line 
of battle was formed, and the Indians, charged with the bayonet, were 
obliged to fail back upon their main force, about equal in numbers to 
Gen. Henry's troops. The battle now became general; the Indians, 
although taken by surprise, fought with desperate valor, but were 
furiously assailed by the volunteers with their bayonets, which pre- 
vailed in the bloody struggle, cutting many of the Indians to pieces, 
and driving the rest into the river. Those of the Indians, who escaped 
being drowned, took refuge on a small island in the river. 

On hearing the frequent discharge of musketry, indicating a general 
engagement, Gen. Atkinson abandoned the pursuit of the twenty 



80 HISTORY. 

Indians, led by Black Hawk himself, and hurried up as fast as he 
could to the scene of action, where he arrived too late to take part in 
the battle. He immediately forded the river with his troops, the 
water reaching up to their necks, and though not without losing 
several of his soldiers, who, during the passage of the river, were 
shot by the Indians from their ambush, effected a landing on the 
island, where the Indians had secreted themselves. After having 
once gained a foothold upon the island, the soldiers rushed upon the 
Indians, killing several of them, taking others prisoners, and chasing 
the rest into the river, where they were either drowned or shot 
before reaching the opposite shore. Thus ended the battle, in 
which the Indian loss amounted to 300 shot, bayoneted, and drowned, 
besides 50 prisoners, whilst of the soldiers but 17 were killed and 12 
wounded. 

Black Hawk, with his twenty men, after Gen. Atkinson had ceased 
to pursue him, retreated up the Wisconsin river. Desirous of securing 
for themselves the friendship of the whites, whose power they had 
begun to fear, the Winnebagoes went in pursuit of Black Hawk and 
his party, and captured and delivered them to Gen. Street, the United 
States Indian agent. Among the prisoners were also the son of Black 
Hawk, and the prophet of the tribe, who had been chiefly instru- 
mental in bringing about the war. 

Gen. Atkinson, - with the soldiers and volunteers, went back to 
Dixon, where the latter were discharged. Black Hawk, his son, and 
the prophet, were taken to Jefferson Barracks, where a treaty was 
concluded, by-which the Indians ceded to the United States their 
lands on the Mississippi, between the Desmoines and Turkey rivers. 
They were afterwards taken to Washington (D. C:), where Black 
Hawk is said to have addressed the President as follows: "I am a 
man, and you are another. We did not expect to conquer the white 
people. I took up the hatchet to revenge injuries, which could no 
longer be borne. Had I borne them longer, my people would have 
said, ' Black Hawk is a squaw ; he is too old to be a chief. He is no 
Sac/ This caused me to raise the war-whoop. I say no more of it. 
All is known to you. Keokuk once was here ; you took him by the 
hand, and when he wanted to return, you sent him back to his nation. 
Black Hawk expects, that like Keokuk, he will be permitted to 



HISTORY. 81 

return." The President assured them, that they should return, after 
which they were delivered to C ol. Eustis s, commander of Fort Mon- 
roe^ with whom Black Hawk became intimately acquainted. On 
leaving him, Black Hawk presented him with a hunting dress and 
some feathers of the white eagle, and said : " The memory of your 
friendship will remain, until the Great Spirit says, that it is time for 
Black Hawk to sing his death song. Accept these, my brother : I 
have given one suit like them to the White Beaver (Gen. Atkinson). 
Accept them from Black Hawk, and when he is far away, they will 
serve to remind you of him. May the Great Spirit bless you and 
your children. Farewell." 

By order of the President, these Indian prisoners were set free on 
the 4th day of June, 1833. They made the tour of the Northern 
States, attracting everywhere great attention ; and returned, by way 
of the Northern lakes, to their people west of the Mississippi. Black 
Hawk died on the 3d of October, 1840, at the age of 80 years, and 
was buried on the banks of the Mississippi river, where he had spent 
his life, and which had been so dear to him. 

After the termination of the Indian war, nothing worthy of notice 
occurred until the month of August, 1834, when Senator Duncan was 
elected Governor of the State. A new Legislature was also elected ? 
which met at Yandalia in December, 1834. As, in consequence of 
Gen. Jackson's veto, the United States Bank was then on the eve of 
being dissolved, the Secretary of the Federal Government, presuming, 
that a deficiency of currency would be produced by its dissolution, 
induced the State Banks to discount liberally, in order to avoid such defi- 
ciency, thus in a manner creating an impression among the " Jackson 
men," as if Gen. Jackson's administration was favorable to the estab- 
lishment of State Banks, wherever the same did not exist. Besides 
these politicians, there were many others in Illinois, who, from mo- 
tives of personal interest, would have delighted in seeing the charter 
of the bank at Shawneetown revived, and a new State Bank created, 
and were clamorous for their re-establishment. Many of the members 
of the Legislature, who at first opposed the banks, were, it is proba- 
ble, won over by bribes, so that, when the " State Bank charter" was 
brought before the House of Representatives, it was approved and 
passed, and the banks chartered ; the State Bank with a capital of over 

F 



82 HISTORY. 

a million, and the bank at Shawneetown with a capital of three hun- 
dred thousand dollars, although the banks were certainly superfluous, 
if not even dangerous; since, at that time, the commerce of Illinois 
was still very undeveloped, and, there being no surplus of capital in 
the State, the capital for banking had to come from, and the stock- 
holders to reside, abroad ; in consequence whereof, the management 
of the affairs of the bank was entrusted to agents, but too apt to pro- 
vide for their own interests far better than for those of their employers, 
or of the people. At a subsequent session of the Legislature, the 
capital of the State Bank was increased two millions of dollars, and 
the capital of the Illinois Bank, at Shawneetown, one million four 
hundred thousand dollars. The subscriptions to the stock of the 
State Bank surpassed by far the amount fixed by its charter, owing, 
partly, to the extensive arrangements made to induce capitalists of the 
Eastern States to invest their money in this stock. After the stock 
had been all taken, the State Bank began to transact business, in 
1835, under the chief control of Thomas Mather and Godfrey Gilman 
& Co., merchants, of Alton. The city of St. Louis having monopo- 
lized almost the entire trade of Illinois, inasmuch as nearly the whole 
of the surplus produce of the State was exported to St. Louis for a 
market, and the merchants of the State purchased their assortments 
and their bills of exchange on the Eastern cities in St. Louis, a want 
was felt by many Illinoisians, of a similar emporium of commerce in 
their own State, to supply which, and attach, at the same time, God- 
frey Gilman & Co. entirely to their own interests, the bank undertook 
to furnish them, and other Alton merchants, with large sums, to carry 
on enterprises intended to divert the channels of trade from St. Louis 
to Alton. The Alton merchants commenced operations by making 
extensive purchases of lead-mines and smelting establishments in the 
vicinity of Galena, with a view of monopolizing the lead trade alto- 
gether. Whilst they succeeded in raising the price of lead to some 
sixty per cent, at Galena, being unable to regulate, in a like manner, 
its price in the Eastern States, to which their lead was destined to be 
shipped, the Alton merchants were at last compelled to sell at an im- 
mense sacrifice, which proved equally ruinous to them and the bank, 
although the fact of the insolvency of the latter was unknown to the 
people. * 



HISTORY. 83 

« 

At this session of the Legislature, the first step was taken to carry 
the project of the Illinois and Michigan Canal into execution. To 
aid in its construction, Congress, in the year 1826, had donated about 
300,000 acres, on the route of the proposed canal, of which a survey 
had already been made. Nothing was done, however, to carry the 
work into effect, until this session, when George Forquer, a member 
of the Senate, in a report remarkable for its sagacious reasoning, as 
well as the masterly eloquence of its language, proposed the negotia- 
tion of a loan of half a million of dollars, to begin the work with. 
The proposed loan was negotiated on the credit of the State, by Gov. 
Duncan, in 1836, and the construction of the canal commenced in the 
same year. During that very year, the mania for speculation in land 
and town lots, after having rested for several years, broke out anew, 
and spread all over Illinois. The dazzling example set by the people 
of Chicago, who, by fostering and advocating this spirit of speculation, 
had, within less than two years, built up and converted a village of a 
few houses into an elegant, industrious city of several thousand inha- 
bitants, was well calculated to excite the surprise and amazement of 
the people, and to revive their old bias for speculation in real estate. 
Nor could the people of the Eastern States be prevailed upon to stay 
at home, after it had become known to them, in what a rapid manner 
fortunes were amassed in Chicago ; but looking upon Illinois as a 
modern El Dorado, large numbers of them immigrated into the State, 
bringing their money and property with them. The example of Chi- 
cago was imitated throughout the State, lots and towns being laid out 
in every direction. And since the great majority of the speculators 
had bought far more, than they could hope either to sell or to pay for, 
it occurring to their minds, that by facilitating immigration, and by 
attracting wealth and industry from abroad, they would soon trans- 
mute the villages into populous cities, and be enabled to sell their lots, 
either at once, or after a short time, they accordingly commenced 
agitating, with great ardor, the subject of internal improvements in 
the State, delivering speeches and holding public meetings, and ar- 
guing their cause with such success, that before the next winter a 
majority of the counties had appointed delegates, who assembled at 
the same time with the Legislature of 1836-1837, in order to discuss 
and deliberate thoroughly upon the subject of internal improvements. 



84 HISTORY. 

and to take good care, that the system to be carried into effect u should 
be commensurate with the wants of the people." Pressed on all 
sides, the Legislature passed a law authorizing the construction of 
about 1300 miles of railroad, commanding, that improvements be made 
in the navigation of several rivers, and a large sum be paid as indem- 
nification to the counties in which no improvements were to be made. 
Eight millions, to be raised by a loan, were voted for the execution 
of the system. A further loan of four millions was negotiated for 
the completion of the canal from Chicago to Peru, and boards of com- 
missioners, superintending the construction of the works, having been 
established, to make the folly complete, the works were ordered to be 
commenced simultaneously on all the roads, at each end. Private 
interests, intrigues, and corruption, had been actively at work to 
ensure the adoption of this system. Thus it Was, that the friends of 
the canal were made to give their consent to other improvements, in 
order to secure the support of their own; and thus politicians would 
endeavor to obtain the consent of every county in the State, by pro- 
mises of roads and improvements, allowing the counties which were 
to be without such, the sum of $200,000 as indemnification : and thus 
politicians, who were anxious to have the seat of government removed 
to Springfield from Vandalia, would support or oppose any scheme of 
improvement, if they could or could not obtain votes in favor of the 
removal of the seat of government to Springfield in return for it. 

In the spring of 1837, the banks throughout the United States 
suspended specie payments, the banks of Illinois not excepted. Now, 
since the charters of the Illinois banks, which had been made the 
fiscal agents for the railroad and canal, and had a large sum of public 
money on deposit, expressly declared, that the banks, upon refusing 
specie payments for sixty consecutive days, should be considered as 
dissolved, it being feared, that such dissolution, whenever it should 
take place, would necessitate the ruin of the whole improvement 
system, measures were proposed, and adopted, to have this unavoid- 
able suspension of specie payments duly legalized. The people then 
firmly believing, that the internal improvement system, which wasted 
the best energy of the State, was indispensable to her welfare, no 
modification or alteration was made in it, but, on the contrary, loans 
were effected, both in Europe and America, large quantities of rail- 



HISTORY. 85 

road iron were bought up at an extravagant price, and the work, upon 
all the improvements, carried on with unabated energy. 

In August, 1838, another election came on for Governor; Cyrus 
Edwards, the whig candidate, openly declaring himself in favor of the 
improvement system, whilst Thomas Carlin, who had been nominated 
as the democratic candidate for Governor, by a State convention, 
upon the principles of the convention system, which, introduced by 
the immigrants from the Eastern States, to consolidate the strength 
of party, was then rapidly superseding the hitherto customary election 
of independent candidates, who had announced themselves as such, 
cautiously refrained from expressing his opinion, either in favor of, 
or against the improvement system. Thomas Carlin was elected 
Governor, and a new Legislature with him, which not only refused to 
abolish the system, but even authorized new loans for additional works, 
projected in a style of magnificence far beyond the means of the infant 
State. Thus, in expectation, that the value of the lands granted by 
the United States for the construction of the canal, would prove illi- 
mitable, a very large and deep canal, to be fed by the waters of Lake 
Michigan, was proposed to be built, and portions of it were even com- 
pleted. Thus canal-basins, and other works, for the improvement of 
navigation on the Illinois river, the execution and completion of which 
would have absorbed no less than ten millions of dollars, were never- 
theless readily provided for. Soon, no more loans could be obtained 
at par, and the State bonds, notwithstanding the law rigidly enforced 
their payment in cash at par, were sold on credit, or at a large dis- 
count, or deposited for sale with bankers of Europe and America. 
The firm of Wright & Co., of London, with whom a large amount of 
them had been left, sold about half a million of dollars worth, and 
then failed, returning the residue of the bonds; at the division of 
whose estate, the State being obliged to share with others, received 
but a few shillings on the pound. In consequence of these calamities, 
which might have been easily foreseen, the Legislature, at a special 
session, in 1838-1839, found themselves obliged to discontinue the 
"internal improvement system." The work on the canal, however, 
was not wholly abandoned ; a million of State bonds having been sold 
at some 25 per cent, discount in Europe, the fund commissioners were 
enabled to persevere in it, for some time after the railroads had 
8 



86 HISTOEY. 

stopped, but were at last obliged to apply for assistance to the Legis- 
lature, in order to pay the interest due in January, 1841. As there 
was but little time left, until the interest was to be paid, the exigency 
of the case was such, that the Legislature resorted to the desperate 
expedient of making a new issue of bonds, to be hypothecated for 
whatever they would bring, which measure, had it been permanently 
adopted, would have involved the State in utter bankruptcy. As 
there were many, who objected to paying interest at all, and especially 
upon bonds, which had been sold for less than their full value, as ex- 
pressed on their face, whilst others argued, that if the bonds had 
passed from the hands of the original into the hands of bona Me 
holders, who had purchased them at their full price, the State was 
bound to pay interest to the latter upon the amount of money, which 
each bond on its face purported to be issued for. Mr. Cavarly, with 
a view of making a decision on the disputed point unnecessary, intro- 
duced a bill empowering the fund commissioner to mortgage 300,000 
dollars' worth of internal improvement bonds, making it incumbent 
upon him to apply the proceeds to the payment of all interest legally 
due on the debt, and leaving it for him to decide, which would be 
more legal, to pay interest upon the full amount of the value of the 
bonds, as shown on their face, or to pay.no interest, except on the 
money, which these bonds had been sold for. Besides providing, that 
these interest bonds should be sold for their mere market value, the 
Legislature levied an additional tax of ten cents on every hundred 
dollars' worth of property to be pledged for the payment of the inte- 
rest of these bonds, by which devices the difficulty, which the com- 
missioners had experienced in paying the interest, was finally over- 
come. 

In the year 1840, a large majority of the people were democrats, 
those formerly the so-called Jackson men ; whilst their opponent 
political party, which, before the year 1834, had flourished under the 
name of " anti-Jackson," and to which many office-holders, and espe- 
cially most of the Supreme Court Judges, belonged, now adopted the 
name of "Whigs," attempting to base the same, as did the " Whigs" 
of the Revolution, upon opposition to the executive power. Two 
important questions were submitted to the Supreme Court, the first 
of which was, whether Governor Carlin had a right, as he claimed to 



HISTORY. 87 

have, of appointing a new Secretary of State to supersede the old one. 
The Supreme Court gave as their opinion, that the Governor had no 
such right, producing, by their decision, a general dissatisfaction 
throughout the country, since the democrats, who constituted a ma- 
jority of the people, very plausibly contended, that the unpopular 
doctrine of life-officers had been sanctioned by it. The second ques- 
tion was, whether an alien had a right to vote. At that time, the 
alien vote was about 10,000 strong, full nine-tenths of which belonged 
to the democratic party. The constitution of the State provided, that 
all free white inhabitants over the age of twenty-one years, who had 
resided in the State for six months, were entitled to vote at general, 
as well as at special elections. The whigs pretended, that the word 
"■ inhabitants" did not apply to any but citizens, whilst hitherto aliens, 
who had been in the State for six months, as well as citizens, had been 
allowed to vote. ' This question having already been made the subject 
of much discussion throughout the State, two whigs undertook to 
settle it, by agreeing on a fictitious cause, which they brought before 
the Circuit Court, the judge of which, being himself a whig, of course 
decided, that the aliens had no right to vote. When this decision 
became known, the democrats, well aware, that its reversion would be 
of vital importance to their party, since it would secure them the fur- 
ther support of nearly 10,000 votes, forming the balance of power in 
the State, carried the case before the Supreme Court, continuing it 
until December, 1840, after the Presidential election. The defeat, 
which the democratic party throughout the United States had sustained 
in the Presidential campaign of 1840, by the election of Gen. Har- 
rison, having added fresh fuel to the irritation of the democrats 
against the whigs, the former, whilst their case remained suspended, 
lost no time in introducing a measure, by which the Circuit Courts, 
created in 1835, were to be abolished, and five additional Judges of 
the Supreme Court were created, all of whom were required to hold 
Circuit Courts in place of the Circuit Judges, who had been dismissed 
from office, which arrangement would have given them a majority of 
two to one in the Supreme Court. Although the success of the mea* 
sure was for a long time extremely doubtful, it finally passed in . both 
houses of the Legislature. The result of this democratic victory was, 
that the appointment of the Secretary of State by the Governor waa 



88 HISTORY. 

confirmed, and the democratic party continued to enjoy the support 
of the alien vote; for nothing could be further from the intention of 
the new judges, than to concur in the opinion of their whig colleagues 
on a subject like this. 

In July, 1841, payment of the interest on the public debt was 
stopped. Illinois, for the second time, drew upon herself the censure 
of the world; people abroad, who had formerly considered Illinois to 
be a country affording good chances to the industrious settler, no 
longer entertained the design of emigrating to it, whilst the people at 
home, could they have found purchasers of their property, would not 
have hesitated to leave the State, in order to escape the evils of high 
taxation. 

The general distress of the State was rendered complete by the 
utter failure of the State Bank, which happened in February, 
1842 ; the bank at Shawneetown, after holding out for four months 
longer, " following in the footsteps of its illustrious predecessor." 
The banks had first suspended specie payments in the spring of 1837. 
To save the internal improvement system, this suspension was then 
legalized, and continued to be made lawful until 1841. This legalized 
suspension of the banks met with violent opposition from the demo- 
crats, which was of itself sufficient to enlist the whigs in their favor, 
and proved of immense advantage to them, since the business men 
and capitalists of the State were principally whigs, which party, at 
the time of Gen. Jackson, in opposition to his policy, had claimed an 
undue influence in the body politic, whilst the democratic party, in 
support of Gen. Jackson's administration, had' been opposed to the 
same. In the meantime, the State Bank having been made the depo- 
sitory of the State revenues, which the collectors were required to pay 
into it as into the public treasury, by the influence it thus acquired 
over the Legislature, the members of which had to look to the bank 
for their pay, succeeded in not only obtaining a further privilege of 
suspension, at the session of the Legislature in 1841, but also a 
privilege not previously granted, of issuing one, two, and three dollar 
notes, which must, no doubt, have caused severe disappointment to 
the democrats The very triumph of the banks, however, accelerated 
their ruin, because the issue of these small notes, with which they 
flooded the country, by banishing from circulation the silver dollar, 



HISTORY. 89 

which formed the specie basis of the country, rendered it impossible 
for them to increase, or even, perhaps, to keep their stock of specie. 
The continual refusal of the United States to take the money of the 
State and Shawneetown banks in payment for the public lands, except 
at a discount, which regularly advanced every year, and the boundless 
liberality, with which the banks distributed their paper money and 
advanced loans, to attach the members of the Legislature and admin- 
istration to their interests, led to their inevitable downfall in 1842, 
which spread ruin throughout the country, and even some of the 
neighboring States : leaving the people of Illinois almost wholly with- 
out any other circulating medium, for the purpose of trade and com- 
merce, than the " bank rags," printed by the " rag barons," as the 
presidents of the banks were then called. 

Before we go further in the exposition of the civil history of the 
State, the general character of the people, and the civil commotions 
and disturbances, which had taken place in earlier times, and which 
may serve as a proper introduction to the history of the famous Mor- 
mon riots, which broke out in 1840, convulsing the State, claim our 
attention. 



8* 



CHAPTEH V. 

The State of Illinois extends about 150 miles from east to west, 
by 400 from north to south. Such a disproportion in the geographi- 
cal figure of a State, is certain to create a separate northern and 
southern interest, even if the people of such a State were of a common 
stock, which, not being the case with the people of Illinois, will suffi- 
ciently account for their frequent disinclination to agree upon the 
adoption of such a policy, and such measures of government, as would 
have best suited the interests of the State, and aided in relieving her 
from the calamities, under which she was then suffering. The settlers 
of the Southern portion of the State were chiefly people from the 
Slave, Stages, those of the northern section principally New Yorkers 
and New Englanders. Many of the inhabitants of the neighboring 
Slave States, who were poor, and did not relish a residence in a slave 
country, where the very negroes were wont to stigmatize them as the 
poor white folks, had removed to Illinois, where the immigration of 
slaveholders was strictly forbidden. The greater part of them were 
an honest and hospitable people, indifferent to wealth, and fond of 
social enjoyment. 

The settlers of the northern part of the State, on the other hand, 
were industrious Yankees from the Eastern States, enterprising farm- 
ers, manufacturers, or merchants, who, by their restless energy and 
activity, soon converted the howling wilderness into a region covered 
with farms, churches, and villages, so that their settlements, though 
founded at a later period than those of the southern part, were soon 
ahead of the latter in point of civilization; and their success will 
sufficiently explain the envy, or rather, the hatred, which the southern 
people conceived against the Yankee settlers. Never having seen any 
Yankees, except a few wretched, cheating, pilfering New England 
pedlars, who" perambulated the country with their assortments of 
wooden clocks or tin-ware, the southerners were led to believe, that 

(90) 



HISTORY. 91 

the real Yankee was nothing but a most ungenerous, despicable, 
cheating fellow, whilst the Yankees, in their turn, were not backward 
in their dislike, presuming the southerner to be fond of dirt and 
ignorance, and to aspire to nothing beyond the exalted idea of passing 
his life in a miserable, narrow log-cabin, with a squalid, ragged family 
around him. Both parties seemed cordially to hate each other, and, 
on questions affecting the welfare of the whole State, found it, fre- 
quently, impossible to agree. Thus, for instance, the southern people 
for a long time opposed the construction of the canal from Lake 
Michigan to the Illinois river, supposing such a contrivance to be 
admirably calculated for flooding the whole country with the obnoxious 
Yankees. 

The politicians of that day had not visibly added to their know- 
ledge of the mysteries of statesmanship, but they were men, who 
understood exceedingly well how to insinuate themselves in the favor 
of the people, by a perpetual show of condescending friendship ; and, 
by dint of continual practice, they had acquired the inestimable art 
of never appearing among the public without a countenance, which, 
by its cheerful gaiety and congenial mildness, would command uni- 
versal attention. These politicians were especially remarkable for 
their genuine horror of passing an unpopular measure, which horror 
made many of them resort to the ingenious expedient of invariably 
opposing measures that were introduced, without previous information 
with regard to the opinion of the people; for if the measure should 
be passed and become popular, no one would be likely to take much 
notice of those who had voted against it : but if it should turn out 
unpopular, then they might triumphantly prove by the journals, that 
they had voted against it. And should the measure, though not 
passed, become yet popular, they would excuse themselves by pre- 
tending to have been insufficiently informed as to the wishes of their 
constituents. 

This policy originated with one John Grammar, who, notwith- 
standing his humble pretensions to anything like a refined education, 
seems to have been a fair type of the politicians of his times. In 
1816, he was first elected to the Legislature, of which he managed to 
remain a member for nearly twenty years. It is reported of him, that 
when first elected, being utterly destitute of civilised clothing, he 



92 HISTORY. 

gathered immediately, in company with his sons, a large quantity of 
hazelnuts, which he forwarded to some Ohio settlement, where they 
were exchanged for some blue strouding, such as the Indians use for 
breech cloths. The cloth being received, the women of the neigh- 
borhood were at once assembled to cut and make it into garments for 
him ; finding it too scant, the women made a very short bob-tailed 
coat, and a pair of leggins of it. Not at all dismayed, Mr. Grammar 
put on the coat and the leggins over an old torn garment, intended 
probably for a pair of breeches, and thus equipped, started for Kas- 
kaskia, then the seat of government, patiently awaiting the day of the 
passing of the poetry J^ll, when, having received part of his salary, 
he set out immediately to procure himself a pair of fashionable 
11 unmentionables." 

By the year 1840, the whole State had been settled. Chicago, 
Alton, Springfield, Quincy, Galena, Nauvoo, and Peoria, were incor- 
porated cities about the year 1842. The benefits conferred upon the 
State by the immigration from the Eastern States, were not only 
visible in the improvements made in the agriculture and construction 
of roads and bridges, but also in the erection of new churches, schools, 
and even colleges, and in the greater attention, which began to be paid 
to education, generally. Formerly, the literary efforts of the Illi- 
noisians had not manifested themselves in any sphere except news- 
paper writing; we now notice the publication, by F. M. Peck, of*his 
Gazetteer of Illinois, of some poetical essays, and the issue of a 
monthly magazine of high merit, the editor of which, James Hall, 
gained considerable reputation as a scholar and a writer. 

In the years 1816 and 1817, the country was overrun with bands 
of horse-thieves and counterfeiters, so numerous and so well organized 
as to care but very little for the authority of the laws. Many of the 
police, of the sheriffs and justices of the peace, were intimately con- 
nected with them, and they had friends among many, who had been 
considered as very respectable men. So frequent had thefts become, 
especially in the frontier towns, that at Galena every new comer was 
asked, whether he would steal or not; and if he answered he would 
not steal, was looked upon as the model of an honest man. Those 
of the rogues, who were arrested, either procured the services of some 
false witnesses, or some of their friends on the jury, and were sure to 



HISTORY. 93 

be acquitted. This so enraged the people, that they organized com- 
panies called " Regulators," commanded by officers, and armed as if 
engaged on a military expedition. The Governor and Judges, who 
despaired of enforcing the laws in the ordinary way, gave them every 
possible unofficial encouragement. Such companies would assemble 
at night, march to the residence of a rogue, arrest him, and after 
thrashing him soundly, expel him from the State. Although most 
of the scoundrels were removed in this way, one noted band managed 
to maintain themselves in some counties on the Ohio, where they 
built a regular fort, laughing the authority of the State to scorn. 
But in 1831 the people in the vicinity attacked and stormed the fort, 
losing one man, and killing three of the rogues in the assault, and 
taking the rest of them prisoners, who were, however, never con- 
victed. 

In the year 1837, a bloody riot occurred at Alton, which, consider- 
ing the noise it made in the world, cannot be passed over in silence. 
Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, of the Presbyterian Church, had endeavored 
to publish an abolition paper in St. Louis, but his press was destroyed, 
and he himself banished from the city. He removed to Alton, where 
his press was thrown into the river the day it was landed. He then 
publicly assured the people, that in the paper he was going to start, 
be would carefully abstain from expressing his opinion about slavery; 
for none existed in Alton, and it would appear, he said, like cowardice 
to fly from a place, where the evil existed, to one, where it did not 
exist, to oppose it. The people then allowed him to establish his 
" Alton Observer," a paper, which at first was solely devoted to the 
interests of religion ; soon, however, it was changed into a most rabid 
abolition paper. Not wishing to see the public peace disturbed, a 
deputation from the people called upon Mr. Lovejoy to make him re- 
member his pledge, when, with most brazen-faced impudence, he 
denied having given any such pledge ; this so enraged the people, 
that they threw his press at once into the river. Not at all discou- 
raged, but more than ever determined to publish his paper, if neces- 
sary, at the point of the bayonet, Lovejoy ordered another press, 
which arrived from St. Louis at Alton on Monday evening, Septem- 
ber 6th. The friends and followers of Mr. Lovejoy, who had formed 
themselves into a military company, were present, when the press was 



94 . HISTORY. 

landed, and safely removed it to a large stone warehouse, where they 
assembled under arms, threatening to make those, who should attempt 
its seizure, know the virtue of their cartridges. The excitement now 
ran high, and on Tuesday evening, September 7th, a mob assembled 
before the warehouse, demanding, that the press be delivered up to 
them. The abolitionists within replied, that they were well provided 
with arms and ammunition, and would sooner die than surrender the. 
press. The mob hurled stones against the house, making preparations 
for a general assault, when a shot was fired from within, killing one 
of the crowd almost instantaneously. Ladders were immediately sent 
for, horns were blown, and the bells of the city rung, armed men 
arriving from all quarters. A ladder being placed on that side of the 
house, which was without windows, a man ascended it with a burning 
torch in his hand. Whilst several shots were exchanged between the 
crowd and the party within, Mr. Lovejoy twice left the building, firing 
each time without effect at the crowd, and retreating immediately. 
The third time, however, he ventured out with one of his party, he 
was shot, and fell mortally wounded. Whilst the flames were con- 
suming the roof, the multitude continued to fire at the building. 
Seeing, that if they further persisted in their pretensions, they were 
doomed to destruction, the men within surrendered the press, and 
were permitted to make a hasty retreat. The principal instigators of 
the mob were afterwards arrested, but never convicted. Thus ended 
the "Alton Tragedy," disgraceful to all concerned, and causing, at 
the time of its occurrence, an immense excitement throughout the 
Union. 

About the year 1840, many riots occurred in the northern part of 
the State. People there had settled upon public lands of the United 
States, and by establishing farms and building villages, had greatly im- 
proved them. The settlers had mutually agreed to protect each other in 
their claims, but there were many, who, with the view of dispossessing 
the owners and securing the lands for themselves, disputed their right, 
which was a prolific source of riots and disturbance. The northern 
portion of the State also, was again infested with organized bands of 
murderers and horse-thieves, who, in some of the counties, and espe- 
cially in the county of Ogle, were so numerous as to overawe justice. 
They would, as formerly, by seating some from their own number on 



HISTORY. 95 

the juries, and hiring crowds of perjured witnesses for their defence, 
manage to prorogue the trial of their cause from one term to another, 
and insure to themselves an acquittal. The people, in their turn, 
formed themselves into companies of " Regulators/' as before, seized 
the most notorious rogues, whipped several of them, and expelled the 
rest from the country. In one instance, a father and his son, both 
hardened murderers, were tried, convicted, and summarily executed 
on the spot; this act of stern justice struck the rogues with terror, 
rendering them averse to further defiance of the laws of the State. 

Nothing else deserving notice happened until the year 1840, 
when the people generally known by the name of " Mormons," first 
began to figure conspicuously in the history of the State. They 
called themselves " The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints/' 
and belonged to a sect started and headed by " Joe Smith/' for whom 
they claimed the gift of prophetic power. " Joe Smith" was born at 
Sharon, Windsor county, Vermont, on the 23d of December, 1805. 
His parents were so poor as to be unable to give their son even a com- 
mon education. Thus "Joe Smith" grew up in ignorance, being 
compensated for his want of knowledge by a naturally crafty and cun- 
ning disposition. His parents removed to Palmyra, New York, when 
he was ten years of age. Here he led an idle,' dreaming life, rambled 
through the woods, exerting himself, in company with his father, to 
excavate buried treasures, or to indicate, for a valuable consideration, 
the place, where wells might be dug and water found. During the 
time he resided in Palmyra, he came in contact with one Sidney 
Rigdon, who was in possession of a religious romance, written by a 
clergyman in Ohio, since dead. This being communicated to Joe 
Smith, he proposed that it should be made the basis of a new reli- 
gion. They concerted a story to this effect, that golden plates had 
been dug up somewhere near Palmyra, with inscriptions in miraculous 
characters, which none but those inspired by God could read ; giving 
an account of the destinies of the ten lost tribes of Israel, their wan- 
derings through Asia, and their settlement in America, where Christ 
came to preach to them the doctrine of salvation, and was crucified, as 
he had been in Jerusalem. The plates then continued the history of 
these early American Christians, until the time, when God, provoked 
by their great wickedness, determined to exterminate them, by caus- 



96 HISTORY. 

ing the Lamanites, the heathen of America, and the Nephites, the 
Christians, to make war with each other. A battle was fought be- 
tween the two parties, in which millions were killed on either side. 
The Nephites were annihilated, with the exception of Mormoo, and 
Moroni, and a few others, all of them righteous men, who were per- 
mitted by the Lord to make good their escape, and afterwards directed 
by him to inscribe the history of these miraculous events on plates 
of gold, and bury them in the earth, where they were to remain, until 
they should be brought to the knowledge of mankind, fourteen centu- 
ries afterwards. 

At the time he formed an acquaintance with Sidney Rigdon, the 
prophet, according to his own statements, had profoundly meditated 
on religious matters, and had especially been very anxious about the 
salvation of his soul. He had seen innumerable sects and doctrines, 
all professing to teach the knowledge of the true way to heaven ; and 
this truth had taken hold of his mind with irresistible force, that 
God could only be the author of one doctrine, and that all the sects 
he had seen, were very far from following the same. He searched 
and examined the Scriptures, devoutly believing what he read; and 
he became aware, that one ought to apply to God himself, who would 
be willing to diffuse light through the darkness, by revealing unto the 
true- believer his own divine will. He therefore retired from the 
noise and confusion of the world to a solitary place, near his father's 
house, where he addressed fervent prayers to the "Most High." 
Whilst he was praying, suddenly a light began to descend towards 
him, which, by the time ifc had reached the tops of the trees, illumi- 
nated the. whole country around. It then descended towards the 
earth till it enveloped him, when two brilliant personages stood at 
once before him, and informed him that his sins were forgiven, that 
none of the Churches existing on earth followed the doctrine of God, 
but that he himself, at some future time, would be instructed in the 
full knowledge of it. 

On the 23d of September, 1823, the prophet had another vision. 
Whilst he was devoutly praying to God, a light purer and more bril- 
liant than the light of day itself, burst into his room, apparently con- 
suming the whole house with fire, and shaking his body as by an 
ague, causing him to be transported with bliss, and to sink into an 



HISTORY. 97 

unspeakable rapture. On a sudden, a glorious personage appeared 
before him, in a snow white garment without a seam, diffusing a light 
around him surpassing in its splendor even that of the first. This 
supernatural being announced himself as an angel, bringing the glo- 
rious tidings unto him, that his prayers had been agreeable to the 
Lord, that his sins were forgiven, that God's covenant with Israel was 
about to be fulfilled, and that the millenium of the true Gospel and of 
universal bliss and happiness had arrived. The angel then told him the 
history of the Indians, who were the descendants of those ten tribes 
of Israel settled in America, which had been almost exterminated on 
account of their awful wickedness; that the holy records of these 
events had been safely deposited beyond the reach of the wicked, and 
that he was the chosen servant of God to bring them to light, and to 
disclose their miraculous contents unto all mankind. 

The angel then disappeared, but returned several times afterwards, 
instructing him, where the holy records were to be found, and telling 
him to take them away and commence the work of God on earth. Tho 
prophet went to the place indicated, and discovered them on a hill, 
in a stone box, near Palmyra. They consisted of gold plates, inscribed 
with hieroglyphical characters, the plates being very thin, and fastened 
together by three rings, composing altogether a volume of six inches 
in thickness. He also found in the same box two stones of surpassing 
transparency, the Urim and Thummim, used by ancient seers to dis- 
cern things past or future. 

As the admiring prophet, filled with the Holy Ghost, was about to 
remove these treasures, the angel appeared again to him, and said, 
"Look!" and he saw the devil, surrounded by an immense train of 
his associates. 

After receiving further instructions from the angel, he started home, 
but was attacked on the road by two scoundrels, and barely escaped 
with his life. He then moved to Pennsylvania, where, with the aid 
of inspiration and of the Urim and Thummim, he commenced trans- 
lating the plates, finishing a part of the book of Mormon, which con- 
tained the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as he had preached it in America, 
and was destined to restore pristine Christianity, and to convert the 
Gentiles, and even the Jews themselves, to the faith. The disciples, 
who flocked to the prophet, pretended to have the gift of prophecy, 
9 G 



98 HISTORY. 

and that of tongues, and, as during the times of the early Christian 
Church, so now were miracles wrought, as, for example, the cure of 
diseases. Many of the followers of the prophet solemnly certified 
before the public, to the effect, that they had seen the plates, and the 
engravings thereon, which were of a curious workmanship • and that 
these plates had been brought before their eyes by an angel from hea- 
ven, as also God had revealed to them, that they were translated by 
his own divine power. 

Within a short time, Joe Smith and his apostles had made many 
converts, who, on the 6th day of April, 1830, formed themselves into 
a Church, in Manchester, in the State of New York, whence they 
removed to Jackson county, Missouri ; here they built the town of 
" Independence/' They claimed, that not only the country, but the 
whole world belonged to them, as the saints of the Lord. Such arro- 
gance could not be endured. The Missourians ducked some of these 
vain pretenders in the river, tarred and feathered several, killed others, 
and forced the residue to remove to the county of Clay, on the oppo- 
site side of the Missouri. The prophet, however, established himself 
at Kirtland, in Ohio, where, in 1836, a very large assembly of the 
" Saints" was held, at which it was announced " that the work of God 
had greatly increased in America, and in England, Scotland, Wales, 
and' the islands of the. sea." A bank was started by the prophet, 
called "The Kirtland Safety Bank/' of which he himself was the 
president. This bank soon failed for a large amount; its failure, the 
cause of which could be clearly traced to a want of integrity on the 
part of the prophet, inflamed the people of the town and its vicinity 
with such a degree of resentment against him, that the prophet, afraid 
to get himself into trouble, removed, with his apostles, elders, and the 
saints, to the remotest north-west corner of Missouri, where their arro- 
gance and presumption speedily made them many enemies. Their leaders 
refused to acknowledge the authority of the government of Missouri. 
Sidney Pugdon, in a fourth of July speech, delivered before the Mor- 
mons, openly proclaimed, that the prophet had resolved no longer to 
submit to the Missourian Government. Rupture having now become 
inevitable, both parties determined to settle their differences by the 
edge of the sword. A battle was fought between the Mormons and 
a body of Missourians, under Major Bogart, in which the former were 



HISTORY. 99 

totally defeated; this, however, did not prevent them from plundering 
the towns of their enemies. At last, Gov. Boggs called out the 
militia, with strict orders to expel the Mormons from the State, at the 
point of bayonet, if necessary. The Mormons were speedily sur- 
rounded, and forced to surrender; all were dismissed, upon giving 
promise to leave the State, with the exception of their leaders, who 
were arrested and committed to prison, but managed to escape beyond 
the boundaries of the State, before they could be brought to trial. 

The whole body of the Mormons removed to Illinois in the years 
1839 and 1840, being kindly received as sufferers in the cause of 
their religion, and permitted to settle at a place on the banks of the 
Mississippi, in the upper part of the county of Hancock, where they 
soon built a city. To this they gave the name of Nauvoo ; it was 
scattered over some six square miles, part of it being built upon the 
Hat skirting the river side, but the greater part upon the bluffs east 
of the river, on the brow of which, commanding a view of the coun- 
try for 20 miles around, in Illinois and Iowa, towered the great tem- 
ple of the Mormons. 

The whig and democratic parties being each of them anxious to 
conciliate the Mormons to their interests, the latter experienced no 
difficulty in obtaining from the Legislature charters incorporating 
Nauvoo under the government of a Mayor, four Aldermen, and nine 
Councillors, with powers to pass ordinances, provided the same were 
not repugnant to the Constitution of the United States or Illinois, and 
incorporating also the militia of Nauvoo into a military legion, called 
" The Nauvoo Legion," entirely independent of the State militia, and 
accountable only to the Governor : besides incorporating a great 
tavern, to be called " The Nauvoo House," in which the prophet and 
his heirs were to possess a suite of rooms forever. Under these 
charters, a city government, and the Nauvoo Legion, were promptly 
organized, Joe Smith being at once elected Mayor, and next to the 
Governor in the command of the Legion. 

In the autumn of the year 1841, the Governor of Missouri made a 
demand on Gov. Carlin, to deliver up to him Joe Smith, and several 
other Mormons, as fugitives from justice. Gov. Carlin issued an 
executive warrant to this effect, which writ, however, was returned 
without being served. Another such warrant having been issued by 



100 HISTORY. 

him, Joe Smith was arrested and carried before Judge Douglass, who 
discharged him upon the ground, that the writ, having been once 
returned before its execution, was "functus officio.' ' 

Gov. Carlin issued another writ in 1842. Joe Smith was arrested 
again, but discharged by his own municipal court by a writ of habeas 
corpus ; the common council of Nauvoo, of which he himself was the 
presiding member, having passed an ordinance empowering the mu- 
nicipal court of Nauvoo to have jurisdiction in all cases of arrests made 
in the city, by any process whatever ; notwithstanding the charter 
granted to the municipal court jurisdiction only in cases of arrests for 
breach of some ordinance. 

Early in the year 1842, while the contest for Governor was going 
on, Adam W. Snyder having been chosen as the democratic candidate, 
and Joseph Duncan, the former governor, as the whig candidate, Joe 
Smith issued a proclamation to the saints, exhorting them to vote for 
Mr. Snyder, and declaring Judge Douglass to be a master spirit. 
Having hitherto derived considerable support from the Mormon vote, 
the whig party, at the appearance of this proclamation, which clearly 
indicated, that they could no longer count upon their former friends, 
were greatly irritated against the Mormons, their papers abounding 
with recitals of the atrocities and enormities perpetrated at Nauvoo. 
They also charged with awful wickedness, the democrats for having 
admitted such fiends as the Mormons into their ranks, although, by 
this time, the Mormons had rendered themselves extremely odious to 
the great body of the people, it being believed, that the Mormons 
looked upon Illinois as the land promised them by the Lord ; their 
Legion being intended for no other purpose, it was said, than to take 
possession of the State, whenever it should become strong enough. 
The excitement throughout the State in regard to the Mormons", soon 
reached a pitch, which made it evident, that a violent struggle, and 
perhaps bloodshed, was about to take place. 

Adam W. Snyder, the democratic candidate, having died previous 
to the election, Thomas Ford, one of the Judges of the Supreme 
Court, at that time engaged in holding a Circuit Court on Fox river, 
was nominated candidate for Governor in his stead. He was elected 
Governor by a large majority; at the time he assumed the reins of 
government, he found the State laboring under the excitement of the 



HISTORY. 101 

Mormon question. Her finances were in a ruinous condition; the 
treasury was utterly bankrupt, not containing enough money to pay 
postage on the usual letters; indebted, moreover, for the customary 
expenses of government, in the sum of $313,000 ; whilst the annual 
revenues provided for the payment of the expenses of government, 
amounted to but one-third of this sum. The currency of the State 
was annihilated, in consequence of which no taxes could be paid or 
collected ; a debt of about $14,000,000 had been contracted for car- 
rying out the internal improvement system ; and the State, by bor- 
rowing beyond her means, had lost her credit. The people were in- 
debted to the merchants : these again to the foreign merchants, or to 
the banks, and the banks to everybody ; and none were able to pay. 
The confusion of public affairs was, in general, such as to make many 
despair of the possibility of devising a system of policy, which could 
relieve the State from the calamities, under which she was then suffer- 
ing. Many of the whigs were in favor of repudiating the entire State 
debt, believing this course of proceeding to be acceptable to the great 
body of the people, and therefore well calculated to increase the 
power of their party, then smarting under the effects of the defeats 
they had repeatedly sustained in elections. The two leading organs 
of the whig party, the Sangamon Journal and the Alton Telegraph, 
openly contended, that the debt never could nor would be paid, and 
that everybody ought to acquiesce in this, as a matter of stern neces- 
sity, which admitted of no further discussion, and forbade all attempts 
to charm it away. The great majority, however, of the politicians 
of the two great parties, observed an ominous silence on the subject, 
none of them being willing to advocate a measure, which, with a tax- 
hating people, might have proved in the highest degree injurious to 
their interests, by destroying their hardly-acquired popularity; so 
that, but for the energetic action of the Governor in the premises, 
who boldly took the lead, denouncing with manly firmness all refusals 
to pay the public debt, Illinois would probably have been made a 
repudiating State. 

The property owned by the State consisted of 42,000 acres, pur- 
chased under the internal improvement system ; 210,000 acres, granted 
by the United States under the distribution law of 1841 j 230,467 
acres of canal lands, besides 3,491 town lots in various towns on the 
9* 



102 HISTORY. 

canal ; the work done on the canal and railroads, with a large quan- 
tity of railroad iron, and the stock in the banks. These were the only 
resources left, applicable to the liquidation of the whole debt, for the 
payment of which heavy taxation could not then be resorted to, since 
it would result in depopulating the country ; so that the debt would 
never be paid. 

During the summer of 1842, Justin Butterfield, a distinguished 
lawyer of Chicago, had several conversations on the subject of the 
canal with Arthur Bronson, a wealthy New York capitalist, interested 
in the State stocks of Illinois, and Mr. Michael Ryan : both of whom 
were acquainted with, and possessed the confidence of capitalists in 
Europe and America. In consequence of forcible representations on 
the part of Mr. Butterfield, a plan was devised and adopted by these 
capitalists and their friends, to the effect, that the owners of canal 
bonds should advance $1,600,000, the sum reported by the chief engi- 
neer to be necessary to complete the canal, to secure which new loan, 
and provide also for the ultimate payment of the entire canal debt, 
the State was to convey the canal property to them in trust, and im- 
pose a tax sufficient to pay a portion of the interest on the whole debt. 

The success of this plan could only have been ensured by the adop- 
tion of the right course of policy in regard to the banks, by far the 
most important subject, that was deliberated upon by the Legislature 
at their session of 1842; since there were at stake about $3,100,000 
worth of State stocks, upon the value of which the completion of the 
canal depended. The people clamored for some mode of liquidating 
the bank debts, many of them being in favor of repealing their char- 
ters, and appointing commissioners to take charge of their effects, to 
pay their debts, and collect whatever was due them ; whilst by far 
the greater part of the people declared themselves in favor of a com- 
promise, by which the State would be paid for its stock, and the banks 
bring their affairs to a close at once. The State Bank held $1,750,000 
of State bonds, and $294,000 in Auditor's warrants, together with 
scrip, amounting in the aggregate to $2,100,000, which it agreed to 
disgorge at once. The Illinois Bank, at Shawneetown, was willing to 
deliver at once $500,000, of which $469,998 were in Auditor's war- 
rants ; and to pay the residue on a short credit. Those, who advo- 
cated the repeal of the bank charters, suggesting, that their effects be 



HISTORY. 103 

placed in the hands of commissioners appointed for that purpose, did 
not consider that, like all public officers managing money matters, 
these commissioners would have set their ingenuity at work to devise 
means, by which to obtain for themselves whatever of the effects would 
have come in their hands, so that neither creditors nor stockholders 
would ever have got anything; nor did they consider, that, though the 
Legislature might repeal, the banks were at liberty to contest their 
right so to do, involving the case in endless litigation, the result of 
whioh might even have been a decision in their favor ; whilst, in the 
meantime, they would not have been at a loss how to remove their 
assets to a place of safety, beyond the reach of their creditors. They 
also paid no regard to the fact, that a government, which, yielding to 
the excitement of the moment, hesitates not to adopt such extreme 
and violent measures as cannot be justified in point of law, is calcu- 
lated to excite such distrust in the minds of capitalists as to render 
them unwilling to subscribe to its stock, or expend their money for 
the improvements, which it authorizes. On the side of a compromise, 
it was argued, that the bonds held by the banks could not be suffered 
to be sold j for the sale of so great an amount of bonds, in addition 
to those already in the market, would not only still further depreciate 
their value, but, by impressing people with a belief that the State had 
wilfully assisted in depressing their value, in order to purchase its own 
bonds at the largest possible discount, would make them consider, that 
a State, which felt no repugnance to thus acting like a vulgar swin- 
dler, was certainly very far from entertaining any intention to pay a 
single cent on the public debt. 

These reasons prevailing with the people, a majority of them de- 
clared themselves in favor of a compromise ; accordingly, a bill of 
compromise with the State Bank was introduced into the House of 
Representatives, and passed by a vote of 107 to 4. It was at once 
agreed to by the bank, and Mr. Clernand, the chairman of the finance 
committee of the Lower House, became its principal advocate. As 
there existed an old feud between Mr. Clernand and Lyman Trum- 
bull, Secretary of State, the latter threatened, that he would take 
good care, that the bill should be so altered in the Senate, which body 
had yet to vote on it, that " the framers, in the House, should not 
know their own bantling, when it came back to them," On hearing 



104 HISTORY. 

this, the Governor, being of opinion, that the Secretary of State ought 
to be the confidential adviser and helper of the executive, immediately 
removed Trumbull from his office. The bill was then passed by a 
large majority, and approved by the council of revision ; and a similar 
one was passed in regard to the Illinois Bank, at Shawneetown ; by 
which two bills a debt of $2,500,000 was liquidated, and the domestic 
treasury at once relieved. 

The Legislature, at this session, also enacted laws for the sale of 
State lands and property, for the negotiation of the loan of $1,600,000, 
which had been proposed to complete the Illinois and Michigan Canal, 
for the redemption of interest bonds mortgaged to McAlister and 
Stebbins, and for the reception of the distributive share of the ' State' 
in the proceeds of the sales of the public lands • by which laws the 
State debt was reduced to $8,000,000. This reduction, could not fail 
to have a highly beneficial influence upon the condition of the State. 
Auditor's warrants, which had sold at 50 per cent., at once rose to 90 
per cent. ; State bonds, which had been selling at 14 cents on the 
dollar, now sold for 40, the banks paid out their specie, and the cur- 
rency of the State was restored to a good condition in less than three 
months. 

The negotiation of the canal loan having been already commenced 
in the year 1842 by Justin Butterfield and Michael Ryan, the latter 
gentleman, who had been an engineer on the canal himself, and was 
in possession of much valuable information concerning its progress 
and statistics, was appointed, with Col. Charles Oakley, agent to bring 
this business to a conclusion. They proceeded to New York, and 
wrote a series of articles for the New York newspapers, in which the 
real condition of the State was truthfully described. Confidence was 
at once restored among business men and capitalists ) and David Lea- 
vitt, the distinguished president of the American Exchange Bank, in 
New York, which held $250,000 of canal bonds, assisted in calling a 
meeting of the American bondholders, at which it was resolved, that 
the American creditors should subscribe for their proportion of the 
loan. Confident of success, Messrs. Oakley and Ryan proceeded to 
Europe, and had interviews with Baring, Brothers & Co., of London, 
Hope & Co., of Amsterdam, and Magniac, Jardine & Co., all creditors 
of the State, and among the wealthiest capitalists in Europe. These 
gentlemen declared themselves in favor of the loan ; but wanted to 



HISTORY. 105 

receive guaranties as to the value of the canal lands, as a securky for 
the money and the ultimate payment of the canal debt ($5,000,000), 
and to be assured as to the willingness of the. people to submit to 
higher taxation, if necessary. A provisional arrangement was then 
entered into, during the summer of 1843, in pursuance of which 
Messrs. Abbott Lawrence, Thomas W. Ward, and William Sturges, 
of Boston, were directed to appoint two competent persons in America 
to inquire into the value of the canal lands : $400,000 were promised 
to be subscribed at once, provided the Governor would pledge himself 
to urge the necessity of an increased taxation, at the next session of 
the Legislature; whereupon Messrs. Oakley and Ryan returned, in 
November, 1843. The choice of the Boston committee fell upon 
Gov. John Davis, of Massachusetts, and William H. Swift, an emi- 
nent engineer and Captain in the U. S. Army. Having examined the 
canal and canal lands, and satisfied themselves as to the truth of the 
representations of Messrs. Oakley and Kyan, Gov. Davis and Capt. 
Swift issued a circular, strongly recommending the loan. Senator 
Ryan, and afterwards Col. Oakley, returned to London to complete 
the necessary arrangements for the loan ; but the foreign bondholders 
refusing to meddle any further with it, until the Legislature and the 
people of the State should have manifested some public regard to 
their obligations, and made some efforts to pay the interest on the 
public debt, they were obliged to return without having accomplished 
anything. 

In the fall of 1844, a letter was addressed through the public news- 
papers to Gov. Thomas Ford, by that faction of the people hostile to 
increased taxation, in which that measure was bitterly denounced. 
Although Gov. Ford knew very well, that to advocate increased taxa- 
tion might render him utterly odious to a tax-hating people, he came 
up to the question with great resolution and self-devotion to the wel- 
fare of his country, publishing an answer to the above letter through 
the newspapers, which, remarkable as it was for its sound common 
sense and sagacious views, and the noble spirit of patriotism animating 
every line of it, not only entirely refuted the arguments set up by the 
opposite party, but also in due time, when its contents had become 
known in the Eastern States and London, by convincing the public 
creditors, that not every man in Illinois was of necessity a hair-brained, 



106 HISTORY. 

rabid demagogue, produced so favorable a change in their minds, as 
to make them not only at once agree to complete the arrangements 
for the loan, but also subscribe for a much larger amount, than they 
had originally intended. Mr. Leavitt, a gentleman of the highest 
standing and credit in the financial world, and a very able financier, 
who, by his successful exertions in the arrangement of the loan, to 
which he himself had very liberally subscribed, had rendered the most 
essential services to the State, hurried to Illinois, accompanied by Col. 
Oakley and Gov. Davis. They arrived at Springfield about the mid- 
dle of February, 1845, during the session of the Legislature. Gov. 
Davis and Mr. Leavitt submitted the proposition of the public cre- 
ditors, which was at once communicated to both houses, through the 
executive. It passed the House by a considerable majority, but was 
defeated in the Senate, owing to the spirit of hostility engendered in 
that body by the Ex-Secretary of State and his friends, who, it is 
probable, from motives of personal resentment, had arrayed themselves 
in opposition to it. But the friends of the bill procured a reconsi- 
deration of the vote, and by dexterously removing and striking out 
of the canal bill whatever related to, or had the semblance of a public 
tax, having silenced much of the opposition, secured the concurrence 
of the Senate in the bill so introduced, and of the House in the bill 
so amended. Laws were passed perfecting the canal arrangement; 
two trustees were elected by the bondholders, and one by the Gover- 
nor : the board was organized, the work on the canal let out to con- 
tractors, and the money required for carrying it on was obtained. 

The Legislature, at this session of 1845, also fixed the rate of in- 
terest on money, at six per cent. ; which measure had become neces- 
sary, owing to the conduct of a great part of the merchants of the 
State, who, in the time of bank suspension, having a large stock of 
goods on hand, in consequence of which competition amoogst them, 
in their retail business, was considerably increased, had found them- 
selves obliged to encourage people to buy on credit, crediting almost 
any one to the whole amount of his property, and in case he was 
unable to pay, taking his notes at 12 per cent, interest ; so that a ma- 
jority of the people were soon indebted beyond their means, and com- 
pelled to pay a ruinous rate of interest to save themselves from being 
sued for their debts. 



HISTORY. 107 

On reviewing again its financial condition, it will be found, that the 
affairs of the State had been administered with such distinguished 
skill and integrity by Gov. Thomas Ford, that in December, 1846, 
when his term of office expired, the domestic debt of the treasury had 
been reduced from $313,000 to $31,000, Auditor's warrants were at 
par, the banks had been liquidated in a just and honorable manner, 
their notes had been banished from circulation, and been replaced by 
coin currency and the notes of solvent banks of other States, the peo- 
ple had paid their debts, and eight millions of the public debt had 
been paid, redeemed, or otherwise provided for : and the State itself, 
which but a short time before had been in a most ruinous condition, 
discredited throughout the world, had yet been able to borrow the 
further sum of $1,600,000 for the completion of the work on the 
canal. Confidence in the prospects of the State was at once revived, 
and the tide of emigration once more directed to Illinois, the popu- 
lation of which in 1845, according to the census of that year, 
amounted to 662,150 souls, and was rapidly increasing. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Having, in the last chapter, brought down the civil history of the 
State to the end of the year 1846, we now prosecute again the history 
of the State as connected with the Mormons. This people had settled 
in Hancock county, and in the year 1842 had increased their numbers 
to nearly 20,000 souls. The warrant of Gov. Carlin for the arrest of 
Joe Smith, their prophet, as a fugitive from justice in Missouri, which 
had not been executed, and was still impending at the time Gov. 
Ford came into office, had been annulled and rendered void of effect 
by the writ of habeas corpus, made out by Judge Pope, of the Fed- 
eral Court, who belonged to the whig party ; in consequence of which 
proceeding the prophet had been discharged. But an accusation 
being vamped up in Missouri against Joe Smith, for having attempted 
the murder of the Governor of Missouri, on the 5th of June, 1843, 
another demand was made by the Missourian governor for the arrest 
of the prophet, and a warrant accordingly issued by Gov. Thomas 
Ford ) in pursuance of which Joe Smith was arrested while absent 
from Nauvoo, on a visit to Rock river. The Missourian agent started 
with the holy prophet in his safe keeping, on his way to Missouri ; 
but on the road was waylaid by a number of armed Mormons, who 
captured the whole party, and conducted their sacred prophet in tri- 
umph back to Nauvoo, the Zion of the modern age. The prophet 
was immediately taken before the Municipal Court, the members of 
which, being his intimate friends, did not fail to discharge him. 

About that time, an election for Congress was to take place in the 
Mormon district. The whigs expected, that the essential services 
they had rendered to the Mormons, by procuring the discharge of 
their prophet, would secure them the support of the Mormon vote for 
their own candidate, Cyrus Walker, but they were outgeneraled by 
the democrats, who terrified the saints with the prospect of the militia 
being sent against them, in case they voted for the whig candidate ; 

(108) 



HISTORY. 109 



which was, without doubt, the cause of the vision of Hiram Smith, 
patriarch in the Mormon Church, and brother of the prophet; in 
which God had revealed to him, that the Mormons must support Mr. 
Hoge, the democratic candidate. This vision, after the prophet him- 
self had attested it to be a genuine one, decided the contest in favor 
of Mr. Hoge, who, having received 3000 votes in Nauvoo, was elected 
to Congress by 800 majority. Awful was the consternation of the 
whigs at this unexpected defeat : they again gave vent to their anger 
and boiling rage through the newspapers, which now, as formerly, 
teemed with accounts of the enormities and atrocities committed at 
Nauvoo; charging the democrats, who could consent to receive the 
votes of such miscreants, with horrible wickedness, well worthy of the 
fire of eternal damnation. 

No further demand having been made by the Missourians for deli- 
vering up the prophet, the latter, together with his saints, continued 
in their usual course of arrogance and insolence. They published 
ordinances proclaiming, that no person in Nauvoo should be arrested 
on a foreign writ, without the approval of the Mayor, endorsed on the 
same ; and that any person attempting to serve any foreign writ with- 
out aDy such approval, would be imprisoned for life. They also con- 
ceived the absurd idea of petitioning Congress to establish a separate 
territorial government for them in Nauvoo, thus rendering it morally 
certain, that they contemplated to erect an " imperium in irnperio." 
Nay, to fill the measure of their arrogance, Joe Smith, in the spring 
of 1844, was announced by them as a candidate for the Presidency 
of the United States, and 3000 missionaries were despatched in every 
direction, to electioneer for their prophet, and to reveal the " fullness 
of the gospel" to the astonished multitude. The ridicule, with which 
these devoted missionaries were overwhelmed by all sensible men, was 
but the just reward of this crowning piece of Mormon folly. 

About this time, the prophet instituted a new and select order of 
the priesthood, who were to be his nobility, and the defenders of his 
throne. He also instituted an order called the Danite Band, who 
were to be his chosen body-guard. He then caused himself to be 
anointed priest and king, claiming to descend, in direct line, from 
Joseph, the son of Jacob, and prescribing the form of the oath of 
allegiance to himself which every one of his followers was to take. 
10 



110 HISTORY. 

He also instituted a female order, called " Spiritual Wives ;" revealing 
this doctrine, that no woman could be " sealed up to eternal life/' 
except by selecting a Mormon elder, with whom she was to share at 
least once her bed ; and that any man was allowed to have one wife, 
and yet, at the same time, in a mystical, spiritual way, might enjoy 
the possession of many others ; the truth of which doctrines he de- 
monstrated, by referring to the examples of Abraham, Jacob, David, 
and Solomon, the favorites of Grod ; and was one of the first to illus- 
trate their practical working, by seducing a number of women, and 
endeavoring to make the wife of William Law, one of his most 
talented disciples, his spiritual mistress. Such corrupt despotism 
could not be endured. William Law, an eloquent preacher, and five 
other leaders of the Mormons, resolved to self at naught the authority 
of the prophet, by establishing a newspaper in Nauvoo, intended to 
enlighten their brethren on their real condition, for which daring 
offence they were immediately tried by the Common Council, and 
having been abundantly convicted of innumerable crimes and misde- 
meanors, were ejected from the Mormon Church; their .press, by 
order of the prophet, was scattered to the four winds. The expelled 
Mormons retired to Carthage, the county seat of Hancock county, 
and took out warrants against the Mayor and members of the Com- 
mon Council, and others, who had been engaged in the outrage ; these 
were, however, immediately taken before the Municipal Court, on a 
writ of habeas corpus, and discharged; upon which the seceding 
Mormons despatched a committee to the Governor, requesting him to 
call out the militia to assist them in arresting the offenders and bring- 
ing them to punishment. That high-handed proceeding, on the part 
of the prophet and his saints, by which the liberty of the press, one 
of the most sacred rights of a republican people, had been so rudely 
assailed, produced an immense excitement among a people already so 
much embittered against the Mormons, on account of their practice 
of voting in a body, so that none could aspire to the honors and offices 
of the county without the consent and approbation of the Mormons, 
who constituted the balance of power; as also on account of their 
apparent determination to establish a separate government, independent 
of the State; and, lastly, on account of their numerous robberies and 
petty larcenies. The militia of the county having been called out by 



HISTORY. Ill 

the constables, to serve as a " posse comitatus," to assist in the exe- 
cution of the process, the Governor, who, on receiving the complaints 
of the rejected Mormons, had resolved to visit in person that section 
of the country, in order to inquire, on the spot, into the particulars of 
the whole affair, arriving at Carthage on the 21st of June, 1844, 
found a large military force assembled, which was hourly increasing. 
Having placed the whole force then assembled at Carthage under the 
command of their proper officers, he called them together, explaining 
to them what he could do and was willing to do, and exhorting them to 
keep strict order and discipline, and not to violate the authority of the 
laws : to all these charges they cheerfully assented. Having received 
these assurances, the Governor despatched a force of ten men, with 
the constable, to Nauvoo^ to make the necessary arrests, and escort 
the prisoners to head-quarters : to the culprits protection was to be 
extended, in case they should voluntarily submit. 

In the meantime, Joe Smith, as Lieutenant-General of the Nauvoo 
Legion, had declared martial law in the city ; the Mormons in the 
neighborhood of Nauvoo had marched to his assistance, the Legion 
had assembled under arms, and the city seemed one great military 
camp, all avenues to which were strictly guarded and watched. Upon 
the arrival of the constable and guard, the Mayor and Common 
Council at once agreed to surrender, and to proceed to Carthage early 
on the morning of the next day ; but the constable and guard, who 
belonged to a faction of daring, violent spirits, who had secretly con- 
spired to bring matters with the Mormons to extremities, made no 
effort to arrest them, nor would he stay one minute beyond the time 
allotted him, but immediately returned with the report, that the ac- 
cused had fled, and could not be found. 

Gov. Thomas Ford, who was soon informed of this base conduct 
of the constable and guard, reflecting that the season had just become 
suitable for the harvest, a delay of two weeks in the gathering of which 
might produce a general famine, and considering, also, that the ter- 
rible freshets at that time liable in all the rivers of the western coun- 
try (one of which, the Mississippi, had risen several feet higher than 
was known before, overflowing the whole American bottom from eight 
to twenty feet deep, washing away houses, fences, and cattle, and 
nearly ruining the time-honored village of Kaskaskia; the other 



112 HISTORY. 

rivers, in proportion to the dimensions of their beds, causing as much 
damage as the Mississippi), would render all efforts to procure provi- 
sions, in case an expedition should be undertaken, totally unavailing, 
resolved to postpone the general calling out of the militia, giving, in 
the meantime, another opportunity to the accused to surrender. He 
therefore made a demand upon the officers of the Mormon Legion to 
surrender the arms, with which the Legion, at the time of their 
incorporation, had been furnished by the State, and required, that the 
prophet-mayor of Nauvoo, together with his brother Hiram, and other 
conspicuous Mormon leaders, be delivered up. The arms, consisting 
of 8 pieces of cannon and 220 stand of small arms, were immediately 
given up, and on the 24th day of June, the illustrious prophet and 
his brother, together with those of his associates, who had been sum- 
moned by the warrant, entered Carthage, surrendering themselves as 
prisoners to the constable, on an indictment of riot. Having given such 
pledges as the justice of the peace deemed necessary, that they would 
appear at court to answer the charge, they were all of them re- 
leased, save the prophet and his brother, who were detained on a 
charge of treason. There being no witnesses present at the time, the 
justice of the peace postponed the examination, meanwhile commit- 
ting the illustrious prisoners for safe keeping to the county jail, a 
massive stone building. The Governor then despatched a company 
of militia, under the command of Capt. Singleton, to Nauvoo, to 
guard the town and take command of the Legion. 

The force assembled at Carthage consisted of about 1200 men, 
some 500 more being stationed at Warsaw. Nearly all of those, who 
resided in Hancock county were clamorous for marching into Nauvoo, 
pleading, that this measure was indispensable, to strike terror into the 
Mormons, and to seize some apparatus supposed to be there for the 
manufacture of bogus coin, together with the counterfeit money itself. 
The Governor yielding to their entreaties, the 27th of June was ap- 
pointed for the march, and Golden's Point, near the Mississippi, about 
equi-distant from Nauvoo and Warsaw, designated as the place of ren- 
dezvous. Whilst preparations were makiDg for the expedition, the 
Governor learned, that a plan had been set on foot by some of his 
own party, to fire, under the cover of night, upon the troops, on the 
day of their arrival in Nauvoo, accusing the Mormons of the deed : 



/ 
HISTORY. 113 

for which they were to be massacred by the troops. Justly incensed 
at the barbarity of this plan, which would have cost the lives of thou- 
sands of inoffensive women and children, that a city like Nauvoo, then 
numbering 15,000 inhabitants, must necessarily contain ; and irritated 
at the absurdity of the idea of taking the field against 3000 well- 
armed men, with a force of but 1700, scantily provisioned for two 
days, Gov. Ford, at a council of officers, convened on the morning of 
the 27th of June, strongly urged them to desist from their sanguinary 
designs; but seeing, that a majority of the council were even more 
anxious than before to march into Nauvoo, being fearful, lest a collision 
might take place, he ordered the troops to be disbanded, both at Car- 
thage and Warsaw, with the exception of three companies, two of 
which were appointed to guard the jail, while with the third he pro- 
posed to march to Nauvoo himself, to intimidate the Mormons, and 
search for the bogus coin and the apparatus for manufacturing it, 
about which the officers were so much troubled. Having left Gen. 
Deming in command of Carthage, and entrusted to two companies, 
under the command of Capt. R. F. Smith, of the Carthage Gray's, 
the keeping of the jail, they promising to discharge their duty strictly 
according to law, Gov. Ford proceeded to Nauvoo, accompanied by 
Col. Buckmaster and Capt. Dunn's company of dragoons. Whilst on 
his march, having been notified, that an attack upon the jail was medi- 
tated,- he ordered, that the baggage-wagons return to Carthage, and 
hurried with the utmost speed to Nauvoo, where he immediately con- 
voked an assembly of the citizens, to whom he stated, in what particular 
the laws had been violated by their leaders ; also the excitement and 
hatred prevailing everywhere against them, and the causes of it, call- 
ing on them to keep the public peace \ after which, having received 
a unanimous vote from the Mormons, that they would abide the laws 
and strictly observe their provisions, he returned on the evening of the 
same day, with the utmost despatch, to Carthage. He had scarcely 
proceeded two miles, when he was met by a Mormon, who told him, 
that the Smiths had been assassinated in jail early in the morning of 
that day. Anticipating the worst consequences from such a treach 
erous act, which was only too well calculated to rouse the fanatical, 
revengeful spirit of the Mormons, making them determined to wage 
a war of extermination, the Governor, in order to prepare for any 
10* H 



114 HISTORY. 

emergency, lost no time in getting to Warsaw, where he found the 
people in the highest state of excitement, owing to some ridiculous 
and exaggerated reports, that he and his party had been furiously 
assailed by the Mormon Legion, and unless assistance was rendered in 
two days, would be cut up without mercy ; which rumors had been 
circulated by the anti-Mormon party, to influence the public to take 
vengeance upon the Mormons. Such was the agitation of the public 
mind, that knowing himself to be distrusted by the anti-Mormon 
ultraists, both of the democratic and whig party, and finding his influ- 
ence and command to be at an end, the Governor made application to 
the United States for 500 men of the regular army, which being re- 
fused, he made the best arrangements, that circumstances permitted, 
for the pacification and defence of the country. He also studiously 
inquired into the details of the assassination of the Smiths, and was 
informed, that the order to disband had reached the Warsaw force 
whilst on their march to Golden Point; when some two hundred of 
them, having disguised themselves by blackening their faces with 
powder and mud, hastened immediately to Carthage, where, of the 
two companies of the Carthage Grays appointed to guard the jail, but 
one remained, the other having disbanded and returned home. Hav- 
ing entered into communication with the remaining company, and 
made an arrangement, that the guard should fire at them with blank 
cartridges, when they stormed the jail, the conspirators rushed on to 
the assault, jumped over the fence, were fired upon by the guard, 
which, according to agreement, made no attempt to resist, and entered 
the prison, making their way at once to the room, where the prisoners, 
with two of their friends, who voluntarily bore them company, were 
confined. When the door was burst open, shots were immediately 
exchanged between the conspirators and the company in the room ; 
Hiram Smith was instantly killed, and the prophet, who, after shoot- 
ing down three of his assailants, with a six-barrelled pistol given him 
by his friends, had jumped out of the window, stunning himself so 
severely in his fall as to be unable to pursue his flight, was despatched 
by the conspirators below with four balls through his body. 

Thus fell Joe Smith, the holy prophet of the Mormons ; the most 
daring impostor in modern times, and by many of the Puritanic stock 
believed to have been the very incarnation of Satan. Totally ignorant 



HISTORY. 115 

/if- almost every fact in science, as well as in law, he made up in con- 
structiveness and natural cunning, whatever in him was wanting of 
instruction. The animal nature largely preponderating in the man, 
he had not the genius to form any vast and comprehensive plans for 
the future ; but whatever he did, was merely intended for present con- 
venience., and gratification of his beastly lusts and desires. He was 
possessed of some qualities, which would have eminently fitted him for 
the stage, being always able to change his external appearance and 
conduct according to circumstances; at times affecting the deepest 
humiliation for his sins, suffering the most unspeakable tortures, as if 
burning already in the terrible fire of eternal damnation, and calling 
for the prayers of the brethren in his behalf, with a fearful, soul- 
stirring energy, and heart-rending earnestness ; then again being ex- 
ceedingly soft and gentle in his behavior; tben again, loud and furious 
as '"a highway robber," "swearing like a pirate and drinking like a 
sailor/' He bore in his profile a strong resemblance to that of a 
boar; he was full six feet high, and endowed with a frame of uncom- 
mon vigor, to the superior strength of which he was no doubt much 
indebted for the influence he exercised over an ignorant people. Those 
of his followers, who aided and supported him in the administration 
of his government, were mostly unprincipled and bankrupt, but 
talented men, who claimed to have a right to teach to, or impose 
upon mankind a new religion, which might afford them a living, 
or some cheap glory. This class of men constituted the leaders, 
whilst their deluded followers were principally .men of a weak and 
unstable character; this made them easily subject to the power 
of designing machinators; and of a dreamy and wandering dispo- 
sition, and a ready belief in wonderful and supernatural matters. 
Many of the Mormons were notorious rogues ; but the greater part 
of them were pitiable victims of a religious imposture, sincere and 
fanatical in their faith. 

When the news of the death of their revered leaders reached the 
Mormons at Nauvoo, they were so stupefied by it as to remain quiet, 
much to the astonishment of -every one. Many of them at first re- 
fused to believe the dire intelligence; others published revelations, 
that the prophet, in imitation of the Saviour, was to rise from the 
dead ; and many maintained, by solemn oath, that they had seen him 



116 HISTORY. 

at the head of a celestial army, coursing the air on a magnificent 
white steed. 

After the holy prophet had thus met with an untimely fate, Sidney 
Rigdon, who had been a member of the first presidency of the Church, 
composed of Joe and Hiram Smith and the twelve, apostles, claimed 
the government of the Church, alleging a will of the prophet in his 
favor. Perhaps he might have succeeded in his pretensions, had he 
not, unfortunately, published a revelation imparted him from heaven, 
directing the Mormons to abandon the holy city of Nauvoo, and to 
remove to Pittsburgh ; which at once destroyed his influence with the 
Mormons, who now confided the government of the Church to the 
twelve apostles, with Brigham Young, a cunning rascal, at their head. 

Another election for members of Congress and for the Legislature, 
was to take place in August, 1844, and a presidential election was 
pending throughout the nation. The contest was carried on by the 
various parties with the most fierce and determined spirit, and as the 
Mormons participated in this contest, it being feared, that they would, 
as usual, cast their votes as a unit, thereby compelling every office- 
seeker to court the favors of that despised people, the hatred of the 
people against the Mormons soon rose to a terrible pitch of excitement; 
to allay this the Governor strongly recommended the Mormons not to 
vote./ But a dexterous politician went to their city a few days before 
the election, and by artful representations and liberal promises of the 
support of the democratic party, induced the Mormons, who were 
foolish enough to believe him authorized to make such assurances, to 
vote the whole democratic ticket. This vote of the Mormons, the 
whig leaders, and many democrats desirous of making political capi- 
tal, laid to the Governor's charge; which made the anti-Mormon 
ultraists more than ever determined to expel this body. 

In the fall of 1844, the leaders, of the anti-Mormons sent printed 
circulars to all the militia captains in Hancock and the neighboring 
counties of Missouri, inviting them to be present at a great wolf-hunt 
in Hancock. Arrangements were made for assembling several thou- 
sand men, provisioned for six days, the anti-Mormon press simulta- 
neously renewing their crusade against the Mormons, whom they 
charged with the most horrible murders, thefts, rapes, and villanies 
of every kind. 



HISTORY. 117 

In this state of affairs, the Governor applied to the chief officers of 
the State militia, who, uniting their exertions with his own, succeeded 
in raising a force of 500 volunteers, under command of Brigadier- 
General Hardin -, with these the Governor proceeded to Hancock. He 
arrived in Hancock county on the 25th of October. The conspirators 
dispersed at his approach, and their leaders fled to Missouri. During 
his stay in the county, the Governor found out, that his officers and 
men were so much infected with anti-Mormon prejudices as to make 
it utterly impossible for him to control them. Determined to make 
the assassins of the Smiths, for whose protection in jail he had pledged 
his word, which had been so shamefully violated, feel the utmost rigor 
of the law, the Governor prepared to cross with a small force to Mis- 
souri, at Churchville, to seize three anti-Mormon leaders, accused of 
that murder ; but had the mortification to see, that one of his own 
officers frustrated. his design, by advising all against joining the expe- 
dition, and arranging privately the terms of surrender for the accused, 
whereupon two of them came forth and delivered themselves up. 
They were tried before Judge Young, in the summer of 1845, but 
although the Governor, being resolved to make the offenders pay the 
utmost penalty of the law, employed the most able lawyers in their 
prosecution, such was the influence of party faction, that the accused 
were all acquitted. At the next term, the leading Mormons were 
tried for the destruction of the heretical press, but the Mormons hav- 
ing, in their turn, impanelled a jury favorable to them, these accused 
were also acquitted. The result of these trials made it evident, that 
no one could be convicted of any crime in Hancock ; which for a time 
rendered it impossible to administer the criminal .law in that unhappy 
county, unless, indeed, by force of arms j so that, while the early French 
settlers seemed to have verified the assertion, that a virtuous and con- 
tented people do not only not require the paternal care of any kind 
of government, but are most happy without such, the people in Han- 
cock county, on the other hand, seemed to establish the fact, that a 
corrupt and lawless people are fit objects to be ruled over by the iron 
hand of a despot, whose government is peremptorily demanded by 
their happiness and welfare. 

During the course of the summer and fall of 1845, the hatred be- 
tween the Mormons and anti-Mormons reached a higher degree of 



118 HISTORY. 

intensity, than ever before. The anti-Mormons, as usual, loaded theii 
papers with startling descriptions of the awful wickedness and enor- 
mities of Nauvoo, loudly complaining of the thefts and robberies of 
the Mormons, and calling upon the people to rise and exterminate the 
miscreants. About this time, the deputy marshal went to Nauvoo to 
arrest some of the twelve apostles, against whom a suit had been 
commenced in the United States Circuit Court, on a note given in 
Ohio. He was threatened and abused for attempting to serve a 
process of law, and in a public assembly of the Mormons, after san- 
guinary addresses had been delivered by their leaders, it was unani- 
mously resolved and agreed, that no process should be served in 
Nauvoo. 

Not long after this, in the fall of 1845, the anti-Mormons of Lima 
and Green Plains held a meeting to plan a scheme for the expulsion 
of the Mormons. They agreed between themselves, that several of 
their own number should fire at the meeting-house, taking good care 
not to hurt any one. This was done, the house was fired at without 
any one being hurt, whereupon the anti-Mormons immediately broke 
up their meeting, and travelling over the country in every direction, 
spread the rumor, that the Mormons had commenced the work of 
death and extermination. Such intelligence was sure to gather a 
mob in a county like Hancock, many of the inhabitants of which had 
acquired a reputation for their desperate character, being always ready 
to indulge in their love of free fights, whenever a suitable occasion 
presented itself. A mob of anti-Mormons soon assembled at Lima, 
and proceeded to the settlements of some very poor Mormons in their 
neighborhood, threatening them with fire and sword, if they did not 
leave at once. The ■ Mormons refusing to remove, the mob burnt 
down their houses, or rather hovels, compelling their wretched inmates 
to fly, in a state of utter destitution, to Nauvoo. Terrible was the 
wrath of the saints at Nauvoo, when they saw their brethren arrive 
in so pitiful a condition. The sheriff of the county, Jacob B. Back- 
instos, whom the Mormons had just succeeded in electing, immedi- 
ately proceeded to Nauvoo, where he raised a posse of several hundred 
Mormons, with which he scoured the country, driving everything 
before him, occupied Carthage, and established a permanent Mormon 
garrison there. Afraid to be dealt with by the same measure, with 



HISTORY. 119 

which they had accommodated the Mormons, the anti-Mormons fled 
everywhere before the sheriff ; some to Iowa and Missouri, others to 
the neighboring counties in Illinois. The anti-Mormons haying left, 
by their flight, the sheriff and his Mormon friends undisputed masters 
of the country, the Mormons, whose houses had been burnt, sallied 
forth in their turn, destroying the habitations of their adversaries, 
laying waste the country with fire ar d sword, and plundering and car- 
rying off, whatever admitted of any transportation. Upon receiving 
intelligence of these proceedings, the Governor hastened to Jackson- 
ville, where, in a conference with Gen. Hardin, Major Warren, Judge 
Douglass, and Attorney-General McDougall, it was agreed, that these 
gentlemen should proceed to Hancock with whatever forces had been 
raised, to restore order, in that distracted county. Having raised 
about 400 volunteers, Gen. Hardin lost no time in getting to Carthage, 
where he dispersed the Mormon garrison and put an end to the ravages 
of the Mormons, recalling the anti-Mormons, and prohibiting the as- 
semblage of parties above four in number, either of Mormons or anti- 
Mormons. 

The twelve apostles and the other leaders of the Mormons, satisfied 
by this time, that it would not do for the Mormons to remain any 
longer in the State, made arrangements with their enemies, through 
the intervention of the Governor and Gen. Hardin, for the unmo- 
lested removal of their people in the spring of 1846. The force of 
Gen. Hardin was diminished to 100 men, and Major W. B. Warren 
appointed their commander; he managed this force with such effi- 
ciency and skill as to render both parties afraid to set the laws at 
defiance during the winter. 

In the meantime, the Mormons made the most enormous efforts for 
removal; all the houses in Nauvoo, not even excepting the temple, 
having been converted into workshops, so that before spring more 
than 12,000 wagons were in readiness for removing their families and 
effects. By the middle of May, about 16,000 Mormons had crossed 
the Mississippi on their march to California, leaving but a thousand 
of their number behind in Nauvoo, such as, having no money, or 
property which they might convert into money, were without the 
means of removing. 

During the same month, the President called for four regiments of 



120 HISTORY. 

volunteers from Illinois for the Mexican war; this was no sooner 
known in Illinois, than nine regiments, numbering 8370 men, an- 
swered the call, though only four of them, amounting to 3720 men, 
could be taken. These regiments, as well as their officers, were every- 
where foremost in the American ranks, and distinguished themselves 
by their matchless valor in the bloodiest battles fought throughout the 
campaign. Gen. Hardin, at the battle of Buena Vista, attacked and 
routed a body of Mexican infantry and lancers five times the number 
of his own, deciding, by his gallant charge, the victory for the Ame- 
ricans, which was won at the expense of his own life and that of many 
of his bravest men. At the same battle, Lieutenant-Colonel Weath- 
erford, with his men, during the whole day stood the fire of the Mexi- 
can artillery, without being allowed to advance near enough to return 
it. Warren, Trail, Bissel, and Morrison, distinguished themselves by 
their intrepid valor at the same battle ; Shields, Baker, Harris, and 
Coffey, are illustrious names, indissolubly connected with the glorious 
capture of Vera Cruz, and the not less famous storming of Cerro 
Gordo. la this latter action, when, after the valiant Gen. Shields 
had been placed hors du combat, the command of his force, consisting 
of two Illinois and one New York regiment, devolved upon Col. 
Baker, this officer with his men stormed with unheard-of prowess the 
last stronghold of the Mexicans, sweeping everything before them, 
and scattering the Mexican forces to the four winds. Such, indeed, 
was the intrepid valor and daring courage exhibited by the Illinoisian 
volunteers during the Mexican war, that their deeds will live in the 
memory of their countrymen until those latest times, when the very 
name of America shall have been forgotten. 

After this slight digression, due to the memory of the Illinoisian 
heroes in the Mexican war, we return again to the Mormons. Al- 
though after June, 1846, but few of that people remained behind, 
their enemies, fearing, that euough of them had been left to control 
the elections, commenced again harassing and annoying them, until 
they had extorted the promise from the Mormon leaders, that their 
people should not vote at the next election. When this election, 
however, came off (August, 1846), the Mormons, without exception, 
voted the democratic ticket, which act terribly enraged the people 
against them. An outbreak of hostilities being looked for as una- 



HISTORY. 121 

voidable, whilst both parties were collecting their forces, the trustees 
of Nauvoo, belonging to the number of the new citizens, who had pur- 
chased the houses and property of the Mormons, who had removed, 
applied to the Governor for a force to protect them. A force of 
militia was raised, and Mayor Parker appointed their commander ; but 
the abuse heaped upon this officer by the whig party, rendered it im- 
possible for him to assist them effectually. As this force was about to 
march into the city, information reached the Governor, that the new 
citizens of Nauvoo were divided in two parties, one of which was 
friendly to the Mormons, whilst the other, being hostile to them, had 
been threatened with death by them, if they did not join in the de- 
fence of the city. The Governor lost no time, "but sent M. Brayman, 
Esq., a distinguished citizen of Springfield, to Nauvoo, with strict 
orders, forbidding the Mormons to force the new citizens to join them 
against their will. Mr. Brayman went to Nauvoo, where it was 
agreed between him and the Mormons, that the latter should leave 
the State in two months, their arms to remain in custody of the State 
during the meantime, which treaty was agreed to by Gen. Singleton, 
Col. Chittenden, and others, on the part of the anti-Mormon forces, 
and Mayor Parker and some Mormon leaders, on the other side. But 
when the treaty was submitted to the anti-Mormon forces for ratifi- 
cation, it was rejected by them, whereupon Gen. Singleton and Col. 
Chittenden immediately retired from the command, which was at once 
assumed by Thomas S. Brockman, an ignorant, rough and uncouth 
Campbellite preacher, who was bitterly opposed to the Mormons, on 
account of their immoral practices ; although he fully equalled, if he 
did not eclipse them in these, having been defaulter to a large amount, 
while collector of taxes, and having committed various other rogueries. 
With a force of 800 men, and five cannon, belonging to the State, 
he proceeded to Nauvoo, where an engagement in the suburbs was 
fought between his troops and about 150 Mormons, together with 
some of the new citizens, as their allies ; in which, owing to the very 
safe distance at which both parties kept from each other, but one man 
was killed, and some three or four wounded on either side, although 
the battle raged with unabated fury the whole day, 9000 cannon-balls 
and an infinite number of bullets being fired on each side. 
11 



122 HISTORY. 

After this sanguinary battle, through the intervention of an anti- 
Mormon committee from Quincy, the remaining Mormons at last 
agreed to remove from the State. In the midst of the sickly season 
they were hurried in the boats and thrown upon the Iowa shore, with- 
out shelter or provisions ; in consequence whereof, great numbers of 
them miserably perished. The new citizens, who had joined the 
Mormons in their defence of the city, were many of them ducked 
and " baptized'' in the river, and the rest of them driven, at the point 
of the bayonet, across the river, by the horde of armed scoundrels 
under the command of the villanous Gampbellite preacher, the pro- 
fessed servant of the meek and lowly Jesus. 

Some of the new citizens returned several times to look after their 
property, but were brutally driven off each time. A reaction now 
took place, however, in the minds of the people, in favor of the .op- 
pressed ; which the Governor no sooner perceived, than he started 
with about 200 men, raised in Springfield, to Hancock, in order to 
reinstate sixty families of the unfortunate new citizens in their homes, 
which had been unmercifully plundered in the meantime. Having 
succeeded in this, and having made diligent, but unsuccessful search, 
for the five pieces of cannon belonging to the State, he disbanded the 
principal part of his force, leaving Major Jackson and Capt. Connelly, 
with a force of 50 men, to stay in the county until the 15th of De- 
cember, 1846, by which time the cold of winter was expected to put 
an end to the anti-Mormon disturbances; which expectation was 
realized. 

While this bloody war was waged in Hancock county, between the 
followers of the prophet and their adversaries, an equally violent 
rebellion, though upon a smaller scale, broke out in the county of 
Massac, on the Ohio, the ancient settlement of horse-thieves, robbers, 
and counterfeiters, who had again become so numerous and well or- 
ganized as to set the laws at defiance, by committing horrible murders 
and depredations. The honest portion of the people formed them- 
selves into companies of regulators, and were about to order the rogues 
from the country, when the latter, in the election for county officers, 
which came off in August, 1846, voted all one way, thereby causing 
the election of a sheriff and other officers, who at once arrayed 



HISTORY. 123 

themselves in open hostility to the regulators, allowing some of the 
rogues, who had already been arrested, to escape from jail; where- 
fore, they were ordered by the regulators to leave the country at 
once. 

In this state of things, the Governor issued an order to Brigadier- 
General John T. Davis, to examine into the disturbances and the 
causes thereof, calling out the militia, if order could not be restored 
by peaceable means. Gen. Davis proceeded to Massac, assembling 
the parties and settling their differences, as he supposed; he had, 
however, no sooner left the county, than new disturbances broke out, 
many of the regulators coming, this time, as far as from Kentucky, 
expelling the sheriff, with other officers, and some of the rogues ; and 
summarily punishing every one, whether rogue or honest man, who 
dared to interfere with their violent proceedings. 

Judge Scates, at the' Circuit Court, not long afterwards held in 
Massac county, strongly urged the grand jury to inquire into the out- 
rageous conduct of the regulators, whereupon indictments were found 
and warrants issued against a numbor of them, who were arrested by 
the sheriff and committed to jail. The regulators assembled from 
Kentucky and the neighboring counties of Illinois, threatening to 
lynch Judge Scates, if he ever returned to hold a court, and liberating 
their friends confined in the jail, expelling the sheriff and his friends 
from the country. The sheriff went to the Governor, then at Nauvoo, 
to apply to him for aid and protection. But the Governor, whose 
term of office was about to expire, refused to meddle with the affair, 
contenting himself with charging Dr. William J. Gibbs to call out the 
militia for the protection of the sheriff and other county officers, and 
the honest portion of the community. The militia, however, refused 
to turn out, and the regulators exercising uncontested sway over the 
county, caught a number of suspicious characters and tried them by 
committee, whipping and tarring and feathering those, who had been 
convicted, and taking many of them away as prisoners, of whom 
several were afterwards reported to " have gone to Arkansas :" by 
which was understood, that they had been drowned in the Ohio, and 
left to swim with the current of that river in the direction of Ar- 
kansas. On the 23d of December, 1846, a convention of regulators 



124 



HISTORY. 



from the counties of Johnson, Massac, and Pope, assembled at Gol- 
conda, ordering the sheriff and the clerk of the county court of 
Massac, together with many other citizens, to leave the country within 
thirty days. The sheriff and many others accordingly left the 
country, remaining absent all winter. This was the last act of vio- 
lence on the part of tne regulators; the disturbances afterwards 
gradually passing away, being destined, like everything else, to come 
to an end. 






CHAPTER VII. 

The term of office of Governor Thomas Ford, under whose admin- 
istration, as already mentioned, the condition of the State had been 
very materially ameliorated, having expired in December, 1846, Au- 
gustas C. French was elected Governor of the State of Illinois; he 
assumed the reins of government the same month, delivering, on the 
8th of December, 1846, an inaugural address to the Legislature, 
wherein he recommends, that all the available means of the State be 
brought into such a condition, that they might be applied to the fioal 
payment of her public debt. Although during his administration the 
debt was not further reduced, but even considerably enlarged, it was 
while he was Governor, that Illinois entered, with gigantic strides, 
upon the road of industry and prosperity, recovering entirely from her 
sunken position, rapidly increasing in population, and so wonderfully 
developing her immense resources, that in point of wealth, industry, 
and enterprise, Illinois now acknowledgedly ranks one of the first 
States of the Union ; her debt is larger than before ; but when we 
consider her population, nearly trebled, and her resources, in so short 
a time increased a hundred fold, it no longer excites the slightest 
apprehension in the mind of any sensible man intending to make Illi- 
nois his future home, aware, as he must be, that Illinois, having suc- 
cessfully opposed and combatted the hideous monster of repudiation, 
is just now reaping the reward due to the restless energy, activity, and 
intelligence of her citizens, enjoying the very highest standing and 
credit throughout the civilized world : whereas, but a few years since, 
she was discredited in every portion of the globe. 

In the years 184$ and 1847, a movement was made for bringing 

together a large mass meeting, to deliberate upon the interests of the 

Western States ; and this resulted in the assembling of the great 

" Harbor and River Convention," held at Chicago in the first week 

11* (125) 



126 HISTORY. 

of July, 1847, which was a most important event in the history of 
Illinois, and had a very beneficial effect upon its destiny. 

The attention of *the citizens of Illinois having, for several years 
been turned to the necessity of revising the State Constitution, on 
August 31, 1847, a convention held for that purpose adopted the pre- 
sent constitution, which was ratified by the people, March 7, 1848, 
and went into operation on the 1st of April ensuing. Under the new 
constitution, Governor Augustus C. French was re-elected Governor 
of Illinois for the next four years, commencing with January, 1849. 
Upon comparing the old constitution, adopted in 1818, with the new 
one, it will be found that the latter is much more complete, having 
received many additions, besides several alterations, of which the fol- 
lowing are the most important : 

In the first place, while the old constitution, as will fully appear 
on reference to its third and fourth articles, made the appointment of 
most of the State officers, including even the Judges of the Supreme 
Court and inferior Courts, chiefly u^-^dent upon the General As- 
sembly, the new constitution renders the*.c f *w'-e officers, including the 
said Judges, eligible by the people, those only excepted, the right of 
whose appointment is vested in the Governor, as from the following 
parallel provisions of the new constitution, in whose fourth and fifth 
articles they are contained, will be circumstantially seen, to wit : 

The Governor (in whom, by virtue of Section 1 of Article IV., the 
executive power of the State is vested, and who, according to Section 
2 and 3 of Article IV. is to be elected once in four years, on the 
Tuesday next after the first Monday of November, and to enter upon 
the duties of his office on the second Monday of January succeeding — 
the first election of Governor, under the new constitution, having been 
held on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November, 1848), 
by virtue of the 12th Section of the same Article, shall nominate, 
and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate (a majority of 
all the Senators concurring), appoint all officers, whose offices are 
established by the constitution, or which may be created by law, and 
whose appointments are not otherwise provided for; and no such 
officer shall be appointed or elected by the General Assembly. 

According to the 14th Section of the same Article (IV.), a Lieu 
tenant-Governor shall be chosen at every election of Governor, in the 



HISTORY- 127 

same manner, continue in office for the same time, and possess the 
same qualifications; and shall, by virtue of his office, be Speaker of 
the Senate, have a right, when in committee of the whole, to debate 
and vote on all subjects, give the casting vote when the Senate are 
equally divided, and administer the government, whenever the Gover- 
nor is unable to a-ttend to his duties. 

According to the 22d Section of the same Article (IV.), there 
shall be elected by the qualified electors of this State, at the same 
time with the election for Governor, a Secretary of State, whose term 
of office shall be the same as that of the Governor, who shall keep a 
fair register of the official acts of the Governor, and, when required, 
shall lay the same, and all papers, minutes, and vouchers, relative 
thereto, before either branch of the General Assembly, and shall per- 
form such other duties as shall be assigned him by law ; and shall 
receive a salary of eight hundred dollars per annum, and no more, 
except fees : Provided, that if the office of Secretary of State should 
be vacated by death, resignation, or otherwise, it shall be the duty of 
the Governor to appoint another, who shall hold his office until an- 
other Secretary shall be elected and qualified. 

The 23d Section of the same Article (IV.). ordains, that there shall 
be chosen, by the qualified electors throughout the State, an Auditor 
of Public Accounts, who shall hold his office for the term of four 
years, and until his successor is qualified, and whose duties shall be 
regulated by law, and who shall receive a salary, exclusive of clerk 
hire, of one thousand dollars per annum for his services, and no more. 

The 24th Section of the same Article (IV.) provides, that there 
shall be elected, by the qualified electors throughout the State, a State 
Treasurer, who shall hold his office for two years, and until his suc- 
cessor is qualified, whose duties may be regulated by law, and who 
shall receive a salary of eight hundred dollars per annum, and no 
more. 

Regarding the Judiciary Department, Sections 2 and 3 of Article 
V. provide, that the Supreme Court shall consist of three judges, two 
of whom shall form a quorum, whose concurrence shall in all cases be 
necessary, and that the State shall be divided into three grand dis- 
tricts, as nearly equal as may be, and the qualified electors of each 
division shall elect one of the said judges for the term of nine years; 



128 HISTORY. 

another of the said judges to be elected for six, and the third for 
three years. 

The 7th Section of the same Article (V.) provides, that the State 
shall be divided into nine judicial districts, in each of which one Cir- 
cuit Judge shall be elected bj the qualified electors thereof; he shall 
hold his office for the term of six years, and until his successor shall 
be commissioned and qualified. 

The 13th Section of the same Article (V.) ordains, that the first 
election for Justices of the Supreme Court, and Judges of the Circuit 
Court, should be held on the first Monday of September, 1848. 

The 14th Section,- that the second election for one Judge of the 
Supreme Court, should be held, on the first Monday of June, 1852, 
and every three years thereafter an election for one Justice of the 
Supreme Court. 

The 15th Section, that on the first Monday of June, 1853, and 
every sixth year thereafter, an election shall be held for Judges of 
the Circuit Courts : Provided, that whenever an additional circuit is 
created, provision may be made to hold the second election of such 
additional judge at the regular elections herein provided. 

The 17th Section, that one County Judge shall be elected by the 
qualified voters of each county, who shall hold his office for four years, 
and until his successor is elected and qualified. 

The 21st Section provides, that the Clerks of the Supreme and Cir- 
cuit Courts, and State Attorneys, shall be elected at the first special 
election for judges, and the second election for Clerks of the Supreme 
Court on the first Monday of June, 1855, and every sixth year there- 
after : the second election for Clerks of the Circuit Courts, and State 
Attorneys, shall be held on the Tuesday next after the first Monday 
of November, 1852, and every fourth year thereafter. 

The 23d Section provides, that the election of all officers, and the 
filling of all vacancies that may occur by death, resignation, or re- 
moval, not otherwise directed or provided for by the constitution, shall 
be made in such a manner as the General Assembly shall direct : Pro- 
vided, that no such officers shall be elected by the General Assembly. 

The 27th Section, that there shall be elected, in each county in this 
State, in such districts as the General Assembly may direct, by the 
qualified electors thereof, a competent number of Justices of the 



HISTORY. 129 

Peace, wlio shall hold their offices for the term of four years, and 
until their successors shall have been elected and qualified ; and they 
shall perform such duties, receive such compensation, and exercise 
such jurisdiction as may be prescribed by law. 

The 28th Section, that there shall be elected, in each of the judi- 
cial circuits of the State, by the qualified electors thereof, one State's 
Attorney, who shall hold office for the term of four years, and until 
his successor shall be commissioned and qualified j who shall perform 
such duties, and receive such compensation, as may be prescribed by 
law : Provided, that the General Assembly may hereafter provide by 
law for the election, by the qualified voters of each county in the 
State, of one County Attorney for each county, in lieu of the State's 
Attorneys provided for in this Section ; the term of office, duties, and 
compensation of which County Attorneys shall be regulated by law. 

And the 29th Section of the same Article (V.) provides, that the 
qualified electors of each county shall elect a Clerk of the Circuit 
Court, who shall hold his office for the term of four years, and until 
his successor shall have been elected and qualified : who shall perform 
such duties and receive such compensation as may be prescribed by 
law. The Clerks of the Supreme Court shall be elected in each divi- 
sion, by the qualified voters thereof, for the term of six years, and 
until their successors shall have been elected and qualified; whose 
duties and compensation shall be provided by law. 

In the second place, the third Section of the second Article, which, 
according to the old constitution, read thus : " No person shall be a 
representative, who shall not have attained the age of twenty-one 
years, who shall not be a citizen of the United States, and an inha- 
bitant of this State j" has been so far changed in the new constitution, 
that now an age of twenty five years, and in addition to a United 
States citizenship, a residence of three years within the limits of the 
State, are required of a person before he can be elected a representative. 
The above ordinance, thus altered, constitutes the third Section of the 
third Article in the present constitution. 

Thirdly, Section 6th, Article 2d, which, in the old constitution,, 
was conceived in the following terms : " No person shall be a Senator, 
who has noo arrived at the age of twenty-five years, who shall not be 
a citizen of the United States, and who shall not have resided one 



130 HISTORY. 

year in the county;" &c, has, in the new constitution, been so far 
altered, that at present an age of thirty years, a United States citizen- 
ship, a residence of five years in the State, and of one year within the 
electing county, are required to render a person eligible to the office 
of Senator. Thus altered, does the above law form the fourth Sec- 
tion of the third Article in the present constitution. 

Fourthly, the fifth Section of Article 2d, which, in the old consti- 
tution, was couched in the following language : " The number of rep- 
resentatives shall not be less than twenty-seven nor more than thirty- 
six, until the number of inhabitants within this State shall amount 
to 100,000 ) and the number of Senators shall never be less than 
one-third, nor more than one-half of the number of representatives f* 
has thus been amended in the present constitution, the sixth Section 
of the third Article of which it forms, that the Senate is to consist 
of twenty-five, and the House of Representatives of seventy-five 
members, until the population of the State shall amount to one mil- 
lion. The population already exceeding this number, an additional 
amendment of the constitution will no doubt shortly become necessary. 

Fifthly, the third Section of the third Article, which, in the old 
constitution, is thus expressed : " The Governor shall be at least 
thirty years of age, and have been a citizen of the United States thirty 
years, and resided for two years within the limits of this State m " has 
thus been amended in the present constitution, the fourth Section of 
the fourth Article of which it forms, that a candidate for the office 
of Governor must have attained his thirty-fifth year, and been ten 
years a resident of the State, and fourteen years a citizen of the 
United States. 

Sixthly, the eighteenth Section of the second Article of the old 

constitution, fixing, by law, the yearly salary of the Governor at one 

thousand dollars, has been made the fifth Section of the fourth Article 

'of the present constitution ; granting the Governor an annual income 

of fifteen hundred dollars. 

Lastly, the nineteenth Section of the third Article of the old con- 
stitution, which, determining by law the veto power on the part of the 
executive, has the following provisions in the old constitution : u The 
Governor for the time being, and the Judges of the Supreme Court, 
or a majority of them ; together with the Governor, shall be and are 



HISTORY. 131 

hereby constituted a Council, to revise all bills about to be passed into 
laws by the General Assembly ; and for that purpose shall assemble 
themselves from time to time, when the General Assembly shall be 
convened ; for which service, nevertheless, they shall not receive any 
salary or consideration, under any pretence whatever; and all bills, 
which have passed the Senate and House of Representatives, shall, 
before they become laws, be presented to the said Council, for their 
revisal and consideration ; and if, upon such revisal and consideration, 
it should appear improper to the said Council, or a majority of them, 
that the bill should become a law of this State, they shall return the 
same, together with their objections thereto, in writing, to the Senate 
or House of Representatives (in whichever the same shall have ori- 
ginated), who shall enter the objections set down by the Council at 
large in their minutes, and proceed to reconsider the said bill. But 
if, after such reconsideration, the Senate or House of Representatives 
shall, notwithstanding the said objections, agree to pass the same by a 
majority of the whole number of members elected, it shall, together 
with the said objections, be sent to the other branch of the General 
■Assembly, where it shall also be reconsidered, and if approved by a 
majority of all the members elected, it shall become a law;" is thus 
shaped in the new constitution, the twenty-first section of the fourth 
Article of' which it forms : " Every bill, which shall have passed the 
Senate and House of Representatives, shall, before it becomes a law, 
be presented to the Governor : if he approve, he shall sign it, but if 
not, he shall return it, with his objections, to the House in which it 
shall have originated; and the said House shall enter the objections 
at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such 
reconsideration, a majority of the members elected shall agree to pass 
the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other 
House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved 
by a majority of the members elected, it shall become a law, notwith- 
standing the objections of the Governor; but in all such cases, the 
votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, to be en- 
tered on the journal of each House respectively." 

Both constitutions, the old and the new one, here require the Go- 
vernor to return any bill presented to him within ten days (Sundays, 
and the days intervening between the adjournment and the re-assem- 



132 HISTORY. 

bling of the General Assembly, in case the latter should adjourn pre- 
vious to the expiration of the ten days, not being counted), otherwise 
the bill so presented shall become a law. In the new constitution, it 
will be observed, the Judges of the Supreme Court are excluded from 
sharing with the Governor in the privilege of exercising the veto 
power. 

These being the principal alterations in the old constitution of the 
State, we now turn again to her history. 

Here, it is worthy of special remark, that when the new constitution 
'' was formed, in 1847, a clause was introduced in it by which, if ap- 
proved by the people, a special tax of two mills upon the dollar was 
levied, and was to be applied to extinguish the principal of the State 
debt. The people, in 1848, voted upon this provision separately, and 
adopted it by ten thousand majority. This, so far as we know, is the 
first instance, in which the people of a State deliberately taxed them- 
selves, in order to pay an old and burthensome debt. It is a fine 
exhibition of the integrity of the citizens of Illinois, and has contri- 
buted much towards establishing the character and reputation she now 
enjoys in commercial circles, both in this country and in Europe. 

The Illinois and Michigan Canal, which, for so long a time, re- 
mained in an unfinished condition, and for which so many fruitless 
struggles were made, was at length completed and opened for navi- 
gation, in the spring of 1848. Connecting Lake Michigan, at Chi- 
cago, with La Salle, the head of navigation on the Illinois river, it 
forms an uninterrupted water communication between the Lakes and 
the Mississippi, being 100 miles long, navigable for boats of the 
largest class, and in every respect one of the finest canals in the 
Union. 

Upon inquiring, whether, besides the canal, other works of improve 
^ment had been proposed and carried out, we shall find, that since the' 
State trusted to individual enterprise, what she herself, under the 
" internal improvement system," had failed to accomplish, railroads 
were projected, the rapid progress and completion of so many of which, 
within the short space of four years, must excite our just surprise. 
While, previous to February, 1852, there were but 95 miles of rail- 
road in operation throughout the whole State, within the following 
four years 2315 additional miles of railroad were completed and put 



HISTORY. 133 

in operation, intersecting the State in every direction. The fact, that 
2315 miles of railroad were completed in Illinois in four years, we 
leave as an achievement for future ages to emulate, and, if possible, 
excel. 

The best part of the whole affair is, that they are all doing a fine 
business, and as they were so cheaply built over the beautiful prairies 
of the State, there is hardly room for doubt, but that they will pay 
handsome dividends to their enterprising stockholders; the Galena 
Road has. paid as high as twenty-one per cent, in a single year. Of 
these various railroads, the one called "Illinois Central Railroad," 
being one of the most magnificent works in this or any other country, 
deserves particular notice. Its main track extends from Dunleith, a 
new town on the Mississippi, opposite Dubuque, Iowa, directly through 
the heart of the State, to Cairo, at the mouth of the Ohio. At Cen- 
tralia, 112 miles north of Cairo, the Chicago branch leaves the main 
line, pursuing a direct course, a little east of the centre of the State, 
to Chicago. The distance from Chicago to Centralia is 251, and 
from Cairo to Dubuque 453 miles, making the total length of the 
road 704 miles. 

The road owes its rapid completion to the generous grant made, in 
1850, by Congress, to the State of Illinois, of 2,595,000 acres of land 
to aid in its construction, and on the 10th of February, 1851, the 
Legislature gave a charter to the present company, granting it all the 
land given by Congress to the State, on condition, that the road 
should be completed by 1857, and that after it was finished, seven per 
cent, of its gross receipts should be paid into the treasury of the 
State. The lands belonging to the road are worth, and will sell for 
far more than the road has cost; part has already been sold; the 
quality of the residue, now in the market, justifies the assertion, that 
so good an opportunity for men in moderate circumstances to secure 
a farm and a competency, will not be likely to occur again for many 
years. 

Of the advantages bestowed by this great work upon the State, we 
need not speak. It runs through a country as rich in agricultural 
and mineral resources as any other sublunary region : it connects the 
Upper Mississippi and the Great Lakes with the Mississippi at Cairo, 
below which that majestic river is navigable for large steamers at all 
12 



134 HISTORY. 

seasons of the year; giving Chicago a perpetual communication with 
the Southern States. A single glance upon the map, and its relations 
to the prosperity of the entire State will at once be understood. The 
completion of the road will involve an expenditure of nearly twenty 
millions of dollars. 

In 1850, the national census returned the population at 851,470, 
an increase of about 80 per cent, since 1840, which, though less than 
that in previous decades, owing to the fact that emigrants had then 
just begun to locate in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, a large por- 
tion of whom, it is known, went from Illinois, was yet a most rapid 
growth. 

In 1851, the General Assembly, by an Act approved February 17, 
authorized a geological survey of the State, which is yet in progress, 
under the direction of J. G. Norwood, who, on the 5th of February, 
1853, sent in a report, showing, how far he had succeeded in his 
Jabors, and establishing the fact, that large as the natural resources of 
the State of Illinois were already then estimated to be, they were yet 
very far underrated. Mr. Norwood is still engaged on his work ; no 
further account of the results of his investigations have been pub- 
lished as yet. 

At the election in November of that year, the people ratified the 
General Banking Law, the professed object of which, at the time of 
its adoption, was to furnish a well-regulated and well-secured paper 
currency, thereby driving from among the people worthless foreign 
paper money, and equally worthless domestic issues. 

Governor Augustus C. French, who, in conformity with a plan of 
his, the adoption of which he earnestly urged upon the Legislature, to 
ascertain the true extent and condition of the State debt, by re-fund- 
ing the various bonds and scrips into one uniform transferable stock, 
reducing thereby the motley mass of forms, of which the debt con- 
sisted, into a clear and tangible shape — had, by an Act of the Gene- 
ral Assembly, passed February 28, 1847, been authorized to cause to 
be received from the holders, and cancelled, all the various kinds of 
State indebtedness (canal alone excepted) ; and to substitute therefor 
an issue of certificates of stock, or stock-bonds of a character uniform 
and transferable ; those issued on account of the principal debt, to be 
allowed to bear like interest with those originally surrendered up, and 



HISTORY. 135 

those issued for overdue interest, or interest in arrear, to be forbidden 
to draw interest for ten years, or until after A. D. 1857 : delivered, 
on the 3d of January, 1853, when his term of office was about to ex- 
pire, to the eighteenth Assembly, a message, wherein, after reviewing 
the general condition of the State, and pointing out for correction 
some defects in the working of the General Banking Law, he pro- 
ceeds to state, that the portion of the public debt required by law to 
be re-funded or exchanged for other and uniform securities, had been 
principally exchanged; that the small amount yet outstanding would 
soon be brought forward, which being done, the whole subject of the 
State debt would appear upon record in a shape easily to be under- 
stood by all. In the same message, he estimates the entire State debt 
at $16,724,177.41 ; the principal debt, exclusive of interest, of the 
canal, the affairs of which were, and, we presume, still are, managed 
by three trustees, acting for the stockholders and the State, amounting 
to five millions, which would be fully met and liquidated from the 
proceeds of the sales of land granted by Congress (alternate sections, 
five miles from each side of the canal), amounting to 230,000 acres, 
70,000 of which had already been sold, up to the spring of 1851. 
Governor Augustus C. French retired from his office, which he had 
filled for six consecutive years, universally esteemed for the prudent 
discretion, integrity, and distinguished ability, with which he had 
administered the affairs of the State. 

Joel A. Mattison was elected governor in his stead, and Gustavus 
Kcerner, a German by birth, Lieutenant-Governor of the State, 
at the same time. Joel A. Mattison assumed the reins of govern- 
ment, delivering, on the 10th of January, 1853, his inaugural mes- 
sage to the Legislature, wherein he speaks thus : " Our public 
debt, that for a time seemed almost to be a burden sufficient to 
prevent immigration to our State, has increased in amount until it now 
(January, 1853) reaches the large sum, principal and interest, of 
$16,724,177.41; but while this amount has been increasing at the 
rate of six per cent, per annum, our State has increased at the rate 
of over ten per cent, for the past few years on her taxable property, 
continually developing our resources, and adding largely to our popu- 
lation. What seemed almost a burden twelve years ago, is now 
looked upon as requiring no great effort on the part of the people to 



136 HISTORY. 

fully pay without any increase of taxation." He estimates its probable 
amount on January 1, 1857, at $10,275,262.41, and thinks it pro- 
bable, that it would be entirely paid before 1865. These expectations 
of the Governor seem to be on the eve of being realized ; for after 
pressing upon the Legislature the subject of improvement of the 
navigable rivers and lake harbors of the Western States by the Gene- 
ral Government, and wisely recommending the adoption of a system 
of> education, whereby every child in the State might be furnished 
with an education, that would fit them for every station and condition 
of life, in a message placed before the Legislature on the 1st of Janu- 
ary, 1855, he estimates the entire State debt, inclusive of interest up 
to that date, at $17,944,652.89, whereupon he proceeds to speak thus : 

" Besides paying enough to pay the entire interest upon the State 
debt each year, for the past two years, there has been paid and ap- 
plied upon the arrearage of interest, and the principal of the debt, the 
sum of $2,750,037.96, being the sum of $1,375,018.98 each year, 
over and above the accruing interest, making, in all, paid on principal 
and interest during the past two years, the sum of $3,951,037.96. 
During the next two years, I confidently expect, that the amount from 
all sources derived from the available assets of the State, and the 
revenue applicable to the liquidation of the State debt, will be in- 
creased at least twenty per cent., which will render the calculation 
certain, that the views entertained two years ago will be more than 
realized in ten years, and I might say still sooner, but prefer to give 
full time. The past two years have realized over $750,037.96 more 
than enough to meet the calculation, that the debt would be paid, all 
but $74,080.62, in eleven years. It will be perceived, that a large 
amouut has been paid at this time, more than enough to meet the 
calculation referred to, during the past two years; and that the prin- 
cipal and the interest of the debt is being absorbed and cancelled each 
year, while the revenue is rapidly increasing, and swelling the means 
of the State to pay." 

Before concluding, the fact appears still worthy of being noticed, 
that, from 1853 to the spring of 1855, an immense excitement pre- 
vailed throughout the State, concerning the temperance question : 
which resulted in the repudiation, by 15,000 majority, of the Prohi- 
bitory Liquor Law, previously passed by the Legislature, on February 
12th, 1855. 



HISTORY. 137 

The advancement of the State of Illinois for the last few years, is 
best shown by the startling increase of her population, returned, by 
the census of 1855, at 1,300,251 souls; the rapid development of 
Jier agricultural and mineral resources — the State having, in one sin- 
gle year, produced 170,000,000 bushels of corn, wheat, and oats — an 
amount which no other State in the Union ever yielded in a year; 
her gigantic system of internal improvements, and the regard paid by 
her to thorough universal education, as well as the untiring energy, 
enterprise, and ' intelligence of her citizens, warrant the belief we 
fondly indulge, that ere three lustres shall have rolled by, the State 
of Illinois, in point of population, business facilities, wealth and intel- 
ligence, will proudly assume her well-deserved position as the Empire 
State of the West. 



12* 



CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE. 



PREAMBLE. 

We, the people of the state of Illinois — grateful to Almighty God for the 
civil, political, and religious liberty, which he hath so long permitted us 
to enjoy, and looking to him for a blessing upon our endeavors to secure and 
transmit the same unimpaired to succeeding generations — ^in order to form a 
more perfect government, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, pro- 
vide for the common defence, promote the general •welfare, and secure the 
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish 
this constitution for the state of Illinois. 

Article I. — Boundaries. 

Sec. 1. The boundaries and jurisdiction of the state shall be as follows, to 
wit : beginning at the mouth of the Wabash river ; thence up the same, and 
with the line of Indiana, to the north-west corner of said state ; thence east, 
with the line of the same state, to the middle of Lake Michigan ; thence north, 
along the middle of said lake, to north latitude forty-two degrees and thirty 
minutes ; thence west to the middle of the Mississippi river, and thence down, 
along the middle of that river, to its confluence with the Ohio river; and 
thence up the latter river, along its north-western shore, to the place of begin- 
ning : Provided, that this state shall exercise such jurisdiction upon the Ohio 
river as she is now entitled to, or such as may hereafter be agreed upon by 
this state and the state of Kentucky. 

Article II. — Concerning the Distribution of the Powers of Government. 

Sec. 1. The powers of the government cf the state of Illinois shall be di- 
vided into three distinct departments, and each of them be confided to a sepa- 
rate body of magistracy, to wit : those which are legislative, to one ; those 
which are executive, to another ; and those which are judicial, to another. 

2. No person, or collection of persons, being one of these departments, shall 
exercise any power properly belonging to either of the others, except as here- 
inafter expressly directed or permitted, and all acts in contravention of this 
section shall be void. 

(138) 



CONSTITUTION. 139 

Article III. — Of the Legislative Department. 
Sec. 1. The legislative authority of this state shall be vested in a general 
assembly, which shall consist of a senate and house of representatives, both to 
be elected by the people. 

2. The first electiort for senators and representatives shall be held on the 
Tuesday after the first Monday in November, one thousand eight hundred and 
forty-eight; and thereafter, elections for members of the general assembly 
shall be held once in two years, on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in 
November, in each and every county, at such places therein as may be pro- 
vided by law. 

3. No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained the age 
of twenty-five years; who shall not be a citizen of the United States, and 
three years an inhabitant of this state ; who shall not have resided within the 
limits of the county or district in which he shall be chosen twelve months next 
preceding his election, if such county or district shall have been so long 
erected, but, if not, then within the limits of the county or counties, district 
or districts, out of which the same shall have been taken, unless he shall have 
been absent on the public business of the United States or of this state ; and 
who, moreover, shall not have paid a state or county tax. 

4. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained the age of thirty 
years ; who shall not be a citizen of the United States, five years an inhabitant 
of this state, and one year in the county or district in which he shall be cho- 
sen immediately preceding his election, if such county or district shall have 
been so long erected, but, if not, then within the limits of the county or coun- 
ties, district or districts, out of which the same shall have been taken, unless 
he shall have been absent on the public business of the United States or of this 
state, and shall not, moreover, have paid a state or county tax. 

5. The senators at their first session, herein provided for, shall be divided 
by lot, as near as can be, into two classes. The seats of the first class shall 
be vacated at the expiration of the second year, and those of the second class 
at the expiration of the fourth year ; so that one half thereof, as near as pos- 
sible, may be biennially chosen for ever thereafter. 

6. The senate shall consist of twenty-five members, and the house of repre- 
sentatives shall consist of seventy-five members, until the population of the 
state shall amount to one million of souls, when five members may be added 
to the house, and five additional members for every five hundred thousand 
inhabitants thereafter, until the whole number of representatives shall amount 
to one hundred ; after which the number shall be neither increased nor dimin- 
ished ; to be apportioned among the several counties according to the number 
of white inhabitants. In all future apportionments, where more than one 
county shall be thrown into a representative district, all the representatives to 
which said counties may be entitled shall be elected by the entire district. 

7. No person elected to the general assembly shall receive any civil appoint- 



140 CONSTITUTION. 

ment within this state, or to the senate of the United States, from the gover- 
nor, the governor and senate, or from the general assembly, during the term 
for which he shall have been elected ; and all such appointments, and all votes 
given for any such member for any such office or appointment, shall be void ; 
nor shall any member of the general assembly be interested, either directly 
or indirectly, in any contract with the state, or any county thereof, authorised 
by any law passed during the time for which he shall have been elected, or 
during one year after the expiration thereof. 

8. In the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, and every tenth 
year thereafter, an enumeration of all the inhabitants of this state shall be 
made in such manner as shall be directed by law ; and in the year eighteen 
hundred and fifty, and every tenth year thereafter, the census taken by au- 
thority of the government of the United States, shall be adopted by the gene- 
ral assembly as the enumeration of this state ; and the number of senators 
and representatives shall, at the first regular session holden after the returns 
herein provided for are made, be apportioned among the several counties or 
districts to be established by law, according to the number of white inha- 
bitants. 

9. Senatorial and representative districts shall be composed of contiguous 
territory, bounded by county lines ; and only one senator allowed to each sen- 
atorial, and not more than three representatives to any representative district : 
Provided, that cities and towns, containing the requisite population, may be 
erected into separate districts. 

10. In forming senatorial and representative districts, counties containing 
a population of not more than one-fourth over the existing ratio, shall form 
separate districts, and the excess shall be given to the nearest county or coun- 
ties not having a senator or representative, as the case may be, which has the 
largest white population. 

11. The first session of the general assembly shall commence on the first 
Monday of January, one thousand eight hundred and forty-nine ; and for ever 
after the general assembly shall meet on the first Monday of January next 
ensuing the election of the members thereof, and at no other period, unless as 
provided by this constitution. 

12. The senate and house of representatives, when assembled, shall each 
choose a speaker and other officers (the speaker of the senate excepted). Each 
house shall judge of the qualifications and election of its members, and sit 
upon its own adjournments. Two-thirds of each house shall constitute a quo- 
rum; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and compel the 
attendance of absent members. 

13. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish them. 
The yeas and nays of the members on any question shall, at the desire of any 
two of them, be entered on the journals. 

14. Any two members of either house shall have liberty to dissent and 



CONSTITUTION. 141 

protest against any act or resolution, which they may think injurious to the 
public, or to any individual, and have the reasons of their dissent entered on 
the journals. 

15. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its mem- 
bers for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds of all 
the members elected, expel a member, but not a second time for the same 
cause; and the reason for such expulsion shall be entered upon the journal, 
with the names of the members voting on the question. 

16. When vacancies happen in either house, the governor, or the person 
exercising the powers of governor, shall issue writs of election to fill such 
vacancies. 

17. Senators and representatives shall in all cases, except treason, felony, 
or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the session of the 
general assembly, and in going to and returning from the same ; and for any 
speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any other 
place. 

18. Each house may punish by imprisonment, during its session, any per- 
son, not a member, who shall be guilty of disrespect to the house, by any dis- 
orderly or contemptuous behavior in their presence : Provided, such imprison- 
ment shall not, at any one time, exceed twenty-four hours. 

19. The doors of each house, and of committees of the whole, shall be kept 
open, except in such cases as, in the opinion of the house, require secresy. 
Neither house shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than 
two days, nor to any other place than that in which the two houses shall be 
sitting. 

20. The style of the laws of this state shall be : " Be it enacted by the people 
of the state of Illinois, represented in the general assembly." 

21. Bills may originate in either house, but may be altered, amended, or 
rejected by the other; and on the final passage of all bills, the vote shall be 
by ayes and noes, and shall be entered on the journal; and no bill shall be- 
come a law without the concurrence of a majority of all the members elect in 
each house. 

22. Bills making appropriations for the pay of the members and officers of 
the general assembly, and for the salaries of the' officers of the government, 
shall not contain any provision on any other subject. 

23. Every bill shall be read on three different days in each house, unless, 
in case of urgency, three-fourths of the house, where such bill is so depending, 
shall deem it expedient to dispense with this rule; and every bill, having 
passed both houses, shall be signed by the speakers of their respective houses ; 
and no private or local law which may be passed by the general assembly, 
shall embrace more than one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title. 
And no public act of the general assembly shall take effect or be in force, until 
the expiration of sixty days from the end of the session at which the same 



142 CONSTITUTION. 

may be passed, unless, in case of emergency, the general assembly shall other- 
wise direct. 

24. The snm of two dollars per day, for the first forty-two days' attendance, 
and one dollar per day for each day's attendance thereafter, and ten cents for 
each necessary mile's travel, going to and returning from the seat of govern- 
ment, shall be allowed to the members of the general assembly, as a compen- 
sation for their services, and no more. The speaker of the house of repre- 
sentatives shall be allowed the snm of one dollar per day, in addition to his per 
diem as a member. 

25. The per diem and mileage allowed to each member of the general 
assembly, shall be certified by the speakers of their respective houses, and 
entered on the journals, and published at the close of each session. 

26. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of ap- 
propriations made by law; and an accurate statement of the receipts and 
expenditures of the public money shall be attached to, and published with, the 
laws at the rising of each session of the general assembly. And no person, 
who has been or may be a collector or holder of public moneys, shall be eligible 
to a seat in either house of the general assembly, nor be eligible to any office 
of profit or trust in this state, until such person shall have accounted for, and 
paid into the treasury, all sums for which he may be accountable. 

11. The house of representatives shall have the sole power of impeaching ; 
but a majority of all the members elected, must concur in an impeachment. 
All impeachments shall be tried by the senate ; and when sitting for that pur- 
pose, the senators shall be upon oath, or affirmation, to do justice according to 
law and evidence. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of 
two-thirds of the senators elected. 

28. The governor, and other civil officers under this state, shall be liable to 
impeachment for any misdemeanor in office ; but judgment in such cases shall 
not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold any 
office of honor, profit, or trust, under this state. The party, whether con- 
victed or acquitted, shall, nevertheless, be liable to indictment, trial, judgment, 
and punishment, according to law. 

29. No judge of any court of law or equity, secretary of state, attorney 
general, attorney for the state, recorder, clerk of any court of record, sheriff 
or collector, member of either house of Congress, or person holding any lucra- 
tive office under the United States or of this state — provided, that appoint- 
ments in the militia, or justices of the peace, shall not be considered lucrative 
offices — shall have a seat in the general assembly; nor shall any person, 
holding any office of honor or profit under the government of the United 
States, hold any office of honor or profit under the authority of this state. 

30. Every person who shall be chosen or appointed to any office of trust or 
profit shall, before entering upon the duties thereof, take an oath to support 
the constitution of the United States, and of this state, and also an oath of 
office. 



CONSTITUTION. 143 

31. The general assembly shall have full power to exclude from the privilege 
of electing, or being elected, any person convicted of bribery, perjury, or 
other infamous crime. 

32. The general assembly shall have no power to grant divorces, but may 
authorize the courts of justice to grant them for such causes as may be 
specified by law : Provided, that such laws be general and uniform in their 
operation. 

33. The general assembly shall never grant or authorize extra compensation 
to any public officer, agent, servant, or contractor, after the service shall have 
been rendered, or the contract entered into. 

34. The general assembly shall direct by law in what manner suits may be 
brought against the state. 

35. The general assembly shall have no power to authorize lotteries for any 
purpose, nor to revive or extend the charter of the State bank, or the charter 
of any other bank heretofore existing in this state, and shall pass laws to pro- 
hibit the sale of lottery-tickets in this state. 

36. The general assembly shall have no power to authorize, by private or 
special law, the sale of any lands or other real estate belonging in whole or in 
part to any individual or individuals. 

37. Each general assembly shall provide for all the appropriations necessary 
for the ordinary and contingent expenses of the government until the adjourn- 
ment of the next regular session, the aggregate amount of which shall not be 
increased without a vote of two-thirds of each house, nor exceed the amount 
of revenue authorized by law to be raised in such time : Provided, the state 
may, to meet casual deficits or failures in revenues, contract debts, never to 
exceed in the aggregate, fifty thousand dollars ; and the moneys thus borrowed 
shall be applied to the purpose for which they were obtained, or to repay the 
debt thus made, and to no other purpose ; and no other debt, except for the 
purpose of repelling invasion, suppressing insurrection, or defending the state 
in war (for payment of which the faith of the state shall be pledged), shall be 
contracted, unless the law authorizing the same shall, at a general election, 
have been submitted to the people, and have received a majority of all the votes 
cast for members of the general assembly at such election. The general 
assembly shall provide for the publication of said law for three months, at 
least, before the vote of the people shall be taken upon the same ; and provi- 
sion shall be made, at the time, for the payment of the interest annually, as it 
shall accrue, by a tax levied for the purpose, or from other sources of revenue ; 
which law, providing for the payment of such interest by such tax, shall be 
irrepealable until such debt be paid: And provided, further, that the law levy- 
ing the tax shall be submitted to the people with the law authorizing the debt 
to be contracted. 

38. The credit of the state shall not, in any manner, be given to, or in aid 
of, any individual, association, or corporation. 



144 CONSTITUTION. 

39. The general assembly shall provide, by law, that the fuel and stationery 
furnished for the use of the state, the copying, printing, binding, and distri- 
buting the laws and journals, and all other printing ordered by the general 
assembly, shall be let, by contract, to the lowest responsible bidder ; and that 
no member of the general assembly, or other officer of the state, shall be inte- 
rested, either directly or indirectly, in any such contract : Provided, that the 
general assembly may fix a maximum price. 

40. Until there shall be a new apportionment of senators and representatives, 
the state shall be divided into senatorial and representative districts ; and the 
senators and representatives shall be apportioned among the several districts 
as follows, viz : — . 

Senatorial Districts. 

1. The counties of Alexander, Union, Pulaski, Johnson, Massac, Pope, and 
Hardin, shall constitute the first senatorial district, and shall be entitled to one 
senator. 

2. The counties of Gallatin, Saline, Williamson, Franklin, and White, shall 
constitute the second senatorial district, and be entitled to one senator. 

3. The counties of Jefferson, Wayne, Marion, and Hamilton, shall constitute 
the third senatorial district, and be entitled to one senator. 

4. The counties of Washington, Perry, Randolph, and Jackson, shall consti- 
tute the fourth senatorial district, and be entitled to one senator. 

5. The counties of St. Clair and Monroe, shall constitute the fifth senatorial 
district, and be entitled to one senator. 

6. The counties of Madison and Clinton, shall constitute the sixth senatorial 
district, and be entitled to one senator. 

7. The counties of Christian, Shelby, Montgomery, Bond, and Fayette, shall 
constitute the seventh senatorial district, and be entitled to one senator. 

8. The counties of Effingham, Jasper, Clay, Richland, Lawrence, Edwards, 
and Wabash, shall constitute the eighth senatorial district, and be entitled to 
one senator. 

9. The counties of Edgar, Clark, and Crawford, shall constitute the ninth 
senatorial district, and be entitled to one senator. 

10. The counties of Vermilion, Champaign, Piatt, Moultrie, Coles, and Cum- 
berland, shall constitute the tenth senatorial district, and be entitled to one 
senator. 

11. The counties of Tazewell, McLean, Logan, De Witt, and Macon, shall 
constitute the eleventh senatorial district, and be entitled to one senator. 

12. The counties of Sangamon, Menard, and Mason, shall constitute the 
twelfth senatorial district, and be entitled to one senator. 

13. The counties of Macoupin, Jersey, Greene, and Calhoun, shall constitute 
the thirteenth senatorial district, and be entitled to one senator. 

14. The counties of Morgan, Scott, and Cass, shall constitute the fourteenth 
senatorial district, and be entitled to one senator. 



CONSTITUTION. 145 

15. The counties of Adams and Pike shall constitute the fifteenth senatorial 
district, and be entitled to one senator. 

16. The counties of McDonough, Schuyler, Brown, and Highland, shall con- 
stitute the sixteenth senatorial district, and he entitled to one senator. 

17. The counties of Hancock and Henderson shall constitute the seventeenth 
senatorial district, and he entitled to one senator. 

18. The counties of Fulton and Peoria shall constitute the eighteenth sena- 
torial district, and be entitled to one senator. 

19. The counties of Kock Island, Henry, Mercer, Warren, Knox, and Stark, 
shall constitute the nineteenth senatorial district, and be entitled to one 
senator. 

20. The counties of La Salle, Bureau, Putnam, Marshall, Woodford, Liv- 
ingston, and Grundy, shall constitute the twentieth senatorial district, and be 
entitled to one senator. 

21. The counties of Du Page, Kendall, Will, and Iroquois, shall constitute 
the twenty-first senatorial district, and be entitled to one senator. 

22. The counties of Ogle, Lee, De Kalb, and Kane, shall constitute the 
twenty-second senatorial district, and be entitled to one senator. 

23. The counties of Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Carroll, and Whiteside, shall 
constitute the twenty- third senatorial district, and be entitled to one senator. 

24. The counties of Mcllenry, Boone, and Winnebago, shall constitute the 
twenty-fourth senatorial district, and be entitled to one senator. 

25. The counties of Cook and Lake shall constitute the twenty-fifth sena- 
torial district, and be entitled to one senator. 

Representative Districts. 

1. The counties of Union, Alexander, and Pulaski, shall constitute the first 
representative district, and be entitled to one representative. 

2. The counties of Massac, Pope, and Hardin, shall constitute the second 
representative district, and be entitled to one representative. 

3. The counties of Gallatin and Saline shall constitute the third representa- 
tive district, and be entitled to one representative. 

4. The counties of Johnson and Williamson shall constitute the fourth repre- 
sentative district, and be entitled to one representative. 

5. The counties of Jackson and Franklin shall constitute the fifth repre- 
sentative district, and be entitled to one representative. 

6. The counties of Marion, Jefferson, Wayne, and Hamilton, shall constitute 
the sixth representative district, and be entitled to three representatives : Pro- 
vided, that no county in said district shall have more than one of said repre- } 
sentatives, and the county from which a senator shall be selected, shall not bo J 
entitled to a representative residing in said county. 

7. The county of White shall constitute the seventh representative district, 
and be entitled to one representative. 

13 K 



146 CONSTITUTION. 

8. The counties of Wabash and Edwards shall constitute the eighth repre- 
sentative district, and be entitled to one representative. 

9. The counties of Lawrence and Richland shall constitute the ninth repre- 
sentative district, and be entitled to one representative. 

10. The counties of Crawford and Jasper shall constitute the tenth repre- 
sentative district, and be entitled to one representative. 

11. The county of Coles shall constitute the eleventh representative district, 
and be entitled to one representative. 

12. The county of Clark shall constitute the twelfth representative district, 
and be entitled to one representative. 

13. The counties of Cumberland, Effingham, and Clay, shall constitute the 
thirteenth representative district, and be entitled to one representative. 

14. The county of Fayette shall constitute the fourteenth representative 
district, and be entitled to one representative. 

15. The counties of Montgomery, Bond, and Clinton, shall constitute the 
fifteenth representative district, and be entitled to two representatives. 

16. The counties of Washington and Perry shall constitute the sixteenth 
representative district, and be entitled to one representative. 

17. The county of Randolph shall constitute the seventeenth .representative 
district, and be entitled to one representative. 

18. The county of Monroe shall constitute the eighteenth representative 
district, and be entitled to one representative. 

19. The county of St. Clair shall constitute the nineteenth representative 
district, and be entitled to two representatives. 

20. The county of Madison shall constitute the twentieth representative 
district, and be entitled to two representatives. 

21. The county of Macoupin shall constitute the twenty-first representative 
district, and be entitled to one representative. 

22. The counties of Jersey and Greene shall constitute the twenty-second 
representative district, and be entitled to two representatives. 

23. The county of Scott shall constitute the twenty-third representative 
district, and be entitled to one representative. 

24. The county of Morgan shall constitute the twenty-fourth representative 
district, and be entitled to two representatives. 

25. The counties of Cass and Menard shall constitute the twenty-fifth rep- 
resentative district, and be entitled to one representative. 

26. The county of Sangamon shall constitute the twenty-sixth representative 
district, and be entitled to two representatives. 

27. The counties of Mason and Logan shall constitute the twenty-seventh 
representative district, and be entitled to one representative. 

28. The county of Tazewell shall constitute the twenty-eighth representative 
district, and be entitled to one representative. 

29. The counties of McLean and De Witt shall constitute the twenty-ninth 
representative district, and be entitled to one representative. 



CONSTITUTION. 147 

30. The county of Vermilion shall constitute the thirtieth representative dis- 
trict, and be entitled to one representative. 

31. The county of Edgar shall constitute the thirty-first representative dis- 
trict, and be entitled to one representative. 

32. The counties of Champaign, Piatt, Moultrie, and Macon, shall con- 
stitute the thirty-second representative district, and be entitled to one repre- 
sentative. 

33. The counties of Shelby and Christian shall constitute the thirty-third 
representative district, and be entitled to one representative. 

34. The counties of Pike and Calhoun shall constitute the thirty-fourth 
representative district, and be entitled to two representatives. 

35. The counties of Adams, Highland, and Brown, shall constitute the thir- 
ty-fifth representative district, and be entitled to three representatives. 

36. The county of Schuyler shall constitute the thirty-sixth representative 
district, and be entitled to one representative. 

37. The county of Hancock shall constitute the thirty-seventh representative 
district, and be entitled to two representatives. 

38. The county of McDonough shall constitute the thirty-eighth representa- 
tive district, and be entitled to one representative. 

39. The county of Fulton shall constitute the thirty-ninth representative 
district, and be entitled to two representatives. 

40. The county of Peoria shall constitute the fortieth representative district, 
and be entitled to one representative. 

41. The county of Knox shall constitute the forty-first representative district, 
and be entitled to one representative. 

42. The counties of Mercer, Warren, and Henderson, shall constitute the 
forty-second representative district, and be entitled to two representatives. 

43. The counties of Rock Island, Henry, and Stark, shall constitute the 
forty-third representative district, and be entitled to one representative. 

44. The counties of Whiteside and Lee shall constitute the forty-fourth 
representative district, and be entitled to one representative. 

45. The counties of Carroll and Ogle shall constitute the forty-fifth repre- 
sentative district, and be entitled to one representative. 

46. The counties of Jo Daviess and Stephenson shall constitute the forty- 
sixth representative district, and be entitled to two representatives. 

47. The county of Winnebago shall constitute the forty-seventh representa- 
tive district, and be entitled to one representative. 

48. The counties of Putnam, Marshall, and Woodford, shall constitute the 
forty-eighth representative district, and be entitled to one representative. 

49 The counties of La Salle, Grundy, Livingston, and Bureau, shall con- 
stitute the forty-ninth representative district, and be entitled to two repre- 
sentatives. 

50. The counties of Du Page, Kendall, Will, and Iroquois, shall constitute 
the fiftieth representative district, and be entitled to three representatives. 



148 CONSTITUTION. 

51. The counties of Kane and De Kalb shall constitute the fifty-first repre- 
sentative district, and be entitled to two representatives. 

52. The counties of Boone and McHenry shall constitute the fifty-second 
representative district, and be entitled to two representatives. 

53. The county of Lake shall constitute the fifty-third representative district, 
and be entitled to one representative. 

54. The county of Cook shall constitute the fifty-fourth representative dis- 
trict, and be entitled to two representatives. 

Sec. 41. Until the general assembly shall otherwise provide, the clerks of 
the county commissioners' courts, in each of the aforesaid senatorial districts, 
and in such of the representative districts as may be composed of more than 
one county, shall meet at the county seat of the oldest county in said district, 
within thirty days next after any election for senator or representative therein, 
for the purpose of comparing and canvassing the votes given at such election ; 
and the said clerks shall, in all other respects, conform to the laws on the sub- 
ject in force at the time of the adoption of this constitution. 

Article IV. — Of the Executive Department. 

Sec. 1. The executive power of the state shall be vested in a governor. 

2. The first election of governor shall be held on Tuesday next after the 
first Monday in November, a. d. 1848 ; and the next election shall be held on 
Tuesday next after the first Monday of November, a. d. 1852 ; and thereafter 
an election for governor shall be held once in four years, on Tuesday next 
after the first Monday of November. The governor shall be chosen by the 
electors of the members of the general assembly, at the same places and in 
the same manner that they shall, respectively, vote for members thereof. The 
returns for every election of governor shall be sealed up, and transmitted to 
the seat of government, by the returning officers, directed to the speaker of 
the house of representatives, who shall open and publish them in the presence 
of a majority of the members of each house of the general assembly. The 
person having the highest number of votes shall be governor ; but if two or 
more be equal and highest in votes, then one of them shall be chosen governor 
by joint ballot of both houses of the general assembly. Contested elections 
shall be determined by both houses of the general assembly, in such manner 
as shall be prescribed by law. 

3. The first governor shall enter upon the duties of his office on the second 
Monday of January, a. d. 1849, and shall hold his office until the second Mon- 
day of January, a. d. 1853, and until his successor shall have been elected 
and qualified ; and thereafter the governor shall hold his office for the term 
of four years, and until his successor shall have been elected and qualified ; 
but he shall not be eligible to such office more than four years in any term of 
eight years, nor to any other office until after the expiration of the term for 
which he was elected. 



CONSTITUTION. 149 

4. No person, except a citizen of the United States, shall be eligible to the 
office of governor ; nor shall any person be eligible to that office, who shall not 
have attained the age of thirty-five years, and been ten years a resident of 
this state, and fourteen years a citizen of the United States. 

5. The governor shall reside at the seat of government, and receive a salary 
of fifteen hundred dollars per annum, which shall not be increased or dimi- 
nished ; and he shall not, during the time for which he shall have been elected, 
receive any emolument from the United States, or either of them. 

6. Before he enters upon the duties of his office, he shall take the following 
oath or affirmation, to wit : " I do solemnly swear [or affirm], that I will faith- 
fully execute the duties appertaining to the office of governor of the state of 
Illinois ; and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the 
constitution of this state ; and will, also, support the constitution of the United 
States." 

7. He shall, from time to time, give the general assembly information of the 
state of the government, and recommend to their consideration, such measures 
as he shall deem expedient. 

8.' The governor shall have power to grant reprieves, commutations, and 
pardons, after conviction, for all offences, except treason and cases of impeach- 
ment, upon such conditions and with such restrictions and limitations as he 
may think proper, subject to such regulations as may be provided by law, rela- 
tive to the manner of applying for pardons. Upon conviction for treason, he 
shall have power to suspend the execution of the sentence, until the case shall 
be reported to the general assembly at its next meeting, when the general 
assembly shall pardon the convict, commute the sentence, direct the execution 
thereof, or grant a further reprieve. He shall, biennially, communicate to the 
general assembly each case of reprieve, commutation, or pardon granted, 
stating the name of the convict, the crime for which he was convicted, the 
sentence and its date, and the date of commutation, pardon, or reprieve. 

9. He may require information in writing from the officers in the executive 
department, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, 
and shall take care, that the laws be faithfully executed. 

10. He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the general assembly by 
proclamation, and shall state, in said proclamation, the purpose for which they 
are to convene ; and the general assembly shall enter on no legislative busi- 
ness, except that for which they were specially called together. 

11. He shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of this state, and 
of the militia, except when they shall be called into the service of the United 
States. 

12. The governor shall nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent 
of the senate (a majority of all the senators concurring), appoint all officers 
whose offices are established by this constitution, or which may be created by 

13* 



150 CONSTITUTION. 

law, and whose appointments are not otherwise provided for; and no. such 
officer shall be appointed or elected by the general assembly. 

13. In case of disagreement between the two houses with respect to the 
time of adjournment, the governor shall have power to adjourn the general 
assembly to such time as he thinks proper, provided it be not to a period be- 
yond the next constitutional meeting of the same. 

14. A lieutenant-governor shall be chosen at every election of governor, in 
the same manner, continue in office for the same time, and possess the same 
qualifications. In voting for governor and lieutenant-governor, the electors 
shall distinguish whom they vote for as governor, and whom as lieutenant- 
governor. 

15. The lieutenant-governor shall, by virtue of his office, be speaker of the 
senate, have a right, when in committee of the whole, to debate and vote on 
all subjects, and, whenever the senate are equally divided, to give the casting 
vote. 

16. Whenever the government shall be administered by the lieutenant-gov- 
ernor, or he shall be unable to attend as speaker of the senate, the senators 
shall elect one Of their own number as speaker for that occasion : and if, 
during the vacancy of the office of governor, the lieutenant-governor shall be 
impeached, removed from office, refuse to qualify, or resign, or die, or be 
absent from the state, the speaker of the senate shall, in like manner, admi- 
nister the government. 

17. The lieutenant-governor, while he acts as speaker of the senate, shall 
receive for his services the same compensation which shall, for the same 
period, be allowed to the speaker of the house of representatives, and no 
more. 

18. If the lieutenant governor shall be called upon to administer the govern- 
ment, and shall, while in such administration, resign, die, or be absent from 
the state, during the recess of the general assembly, it shall be the duty of the 
secretary of state, for the time being, to convene the senate for the purpose 
of choosing a speaker. 

19. In case of the impeachment of the governor, his absence from the state, 
or inability to discharge the duties of his office, the powers, duties, and emolu- 
ments of the office shall devolve upon the lieutenant-governor ; and in case of 
his death, resignation, or removal, then upon the speaker of the senate for the 
time being, until the governer, absent or impeached, shall return or be ac- 
quitted ; or until the disqualification or inability shall cease ; or until a new 
governor shall be elected and qualified. 

20. In case of a vacancy in the office of governor, for any other cause than 
those herein enumerated, or in case of the death of the governor elect before 
he is qualified, the powers, duties, and emoluments of the office shall devolve 
upon the lieutenant-governor, or speaker of the senate, as above provided, 
until a new governor be elected and qualified. 



CONSTITUTION. 151 

21. Every bill which shall have passed the senate and house of representa- 
tives, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the governor ; if he ap- 
prove, he shall sign it ; but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to the 
house in which it shall have originated ; and the said house shall enter the 
objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after 
such reconsideration, a majority of the members elected shall agree to pass 
the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by 
which it shall likewise be reconsidered ; and if approved by a majority of the 
members elected, it shall become a law, notwithstanding the objections of the 
governor ; but in all such cases, the votes of both houses shall be determined 
by yeas and nays, to be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If 
any bill shall not be returned by the governor within ten days (Sundays ex- 
cepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in 
like manner as if he had signed it, unless the general assembly shall, by their 
adjournment, prevent its return, in which case the said bill shall be returned 
on the first day of the meeting of the general assembly, after the expiration 
of said ten days, or be a law. 

22. There shall be elected by the qualified electors of this state, at the same 
time of the election for governor, a secretary of state, whose term of office 
shall be the same as that of the governor, who shall keep a fair register of the 
official acts of the governor, and, when required, shall lay the same, and all 
papers, minutes, and vouchers, relative thereto, before either branch of the 
general assembly, and shall perform such other duties as shall be assigned him 
by law, and shall receive a salary of eight hundred dollars per annum, and no 
more, except fees : Provided, that if the office of secretary of state should be 
vacated by death, resignation, or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the governor 
to appoint another, who shall hold his office until another secretary shall be 
elected and qualified. 

23. There shall be chosen, by the qualified electors throughout the state, an 
auditor of public accounts, who shall hold his office for the term of four years, 
and until his successor is qualified, and whose duties shall be regulated by law, 
and who shall receive a salary, exclusive of clerk hire, of one thousand dollars 
per annum for his services, and no more. 

24. There shall be elected, by the qualified electors throughout the state, a 
state treasurer, who shall hold his office for two years, and until his successor 
is qualified ; whose duties may be regulated by law, and who shall receive a 
salary of eight hundred dollars per annum, and no more. 

25. All grants and commissions shall be sealed with the great seal of state, 
signed by the governor or person administering the government, and counter- 
signed by the secretary of state. 

26. The governor and all other civil officers shall be liable to impeachment 
for misdemeanor in office, during their continuance in office, and for two years 
thereafter. 



152 CONSTITUTION. 

Article V. — Of the Judiciary Department. 
Sec. 1. The judicial power of this state shall be, and is hereby, vested in 
one supreme court, in circuit courts, in county courts, and in justices of the 
peace : Provided, that inferior local courts, of civil and criminal jurisdiction, 
may be established by the general assembly in the cities of this state, but such 
courts shall have a uniform organization and jurisdiction in such cities. 

2. The supreme court shall consist of three judges, two of whom shall form 
a quorum ; and the concurrence of two of said judges shall, in all cases, be 
necessary to a decision. 

3. The state shall be divided into three grand divisions, as nearly equal as 
may be, and the qualified electors of each division shall elect one of the said 
judges for the term of nine years : Provided, that after the first election of 
such judges, the general assembly may have the power to provide by law for 
their election by the whole state, or by divisions, as they may deem most 
expedient. 

4. The office of one of said judges shall be vacated, after the first election 
held under this article, in three years ; of one, in six years ; and of one, in nine 
years ; to be decided by lot, so that one of said judges shall be elected once in 
every three years. The judge having the longest term to serve shall be the 
first chief-justice ; after which, the judge having the oldest commission shall 
be chief-justice. 

5. The supreme court may have original jurisdiction in cases relative to the 
revenue, in cases of mandamus, habeas corpus, and in such cases of impeach- 
ment as may be by law directed to be tried before it, and shaU have appellate 
jurisdiction in all other cases. 

6. The supreme court shall hold one term annually in each of the aforesaid 
grand divisions, at such time and place, in each of said divisions, as may be 
provided for by law. 

7. The state shall be divided into nine judicial districts ; in each of which 
one circuit judge shall be elected by the qualified electors thereof, who shall 
hold his office for the term of six years, and until his successor shall be com- 
missioned and qualified : Provided, that the general assembly may increase the 
number of circuits to meet the future exigencies of the state. 

8. There shall be two or more terms of the circuit court held, annually, in 
each county of this state, at such times as shall be provided by law ; and said 
courts shall have jurisdiction in all cases at law and equity, and in all cases of 
appeals from all inferior courts. 

9. All vacancies in the supreme and circuit courts shall be filled by election 
as aforesaid : Provided, however, that if the unexpired term does not exceed 
one year, such vacancy may be filled by executive appointment. 

10. The judges of the supreme court shall receive a salary of twelve hun- 
dred dollars per annum, payable quarterly, and no more. The judges of the 
circuit courts shall receive a salary of one thousand dollars per annum, payable 



CONSTITUTION. 153 

quarterly, and no more. The judges of the supreme and circuit courts shall 
not be eligible to any other office or public trust, of profit, in this state or the 
United States, during the term for which they are elected, nor for one year 
thereafter. All votes for either of them for any elective office (except that of 
judge of the supreme or circuit court), given by the general assembly, or the 
people, shall be void. 

11. No person shall be eligible to the office of judge of any court of this 
state, who is not a citizen of the United States, and who shall not have resided 
in this state five years next preceding his election, and who shall not, for two 
years next preceding his election, have resided in the division, circuit, or 
county, in which he shall be elected ; nor shall any person be elected judge 
of the supreme court, who shall be, at the time of his election, under the age 
of thirty-five years ; and no person shall be eligible to the office of judge of 
the circuit court until he shall have attained the age of thirty years. 

12. For any reasonable cause, to be entered on the journals of each house, 
which shall not be sufficient ground for impeachment, both justices of the 
supreme court, and judges of the circuit court, shall be removed from office, 
on the vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each branch of the general 
assembly: Provided, always, that no member of either house of the general 
assembly shall be eligible to fill the vacancy occasioned by such removal: Pro- 
vided, also, that no removal shall be made unless the justice or judge complained 
of shall have been served with a copy of the complaint against him, and shall 
have an opportunity of being heard in his defence. 

13. The first election for justices of the supreme court, and judges of the 
circuit courts, shall be held on the first Monday of September, 1848. 

14. The second election for one justice of the supreme court shall be held on 
the first Monday of June, 1852 ; and every three years thereafter an election 
shall be held for one justice of the supreme court. 

15. On the first Monday of June, 1855, and every sixth year thereafter, an 
election shall be held for judges of the circuit courts : Provided, whenever an 
additional circuit is created, such provision may be made as to hold the second 
election of such additional judge at the regular elections herein provided. 

16. There shall be, in each county, a court, to be called a county court. 

17. One county judge shall be elected by the qualified voters of each county, 
who shall hold his office for four years, and until his successor is elected and 
qualified. 

18. The jurisdiction of said court shall extend to all probate and such other 
jurisdiction as the general assembly may confer in civil cases, and such crimi- 
nal cases as may be prescribed by law, where the punishment is by fine only, 
not exceeding one hundred dollars. 

19. The county judge, with such justices of the peace in each county as may 
be designated by law, shall hold terms for the transaction of county business, 
and shall perform such other duties as the general assembly shall prescribe : 



154 CONSTITUTION. 

Provided, the general assembly may require, that two justices, to be chosen 
by the qualified electors of each county, shall sit with the county judge in all 
cases ; and there shall be elected, quadrennially, in each county, a clerk of the 
county court, who shall be ex officio recorder, whose compensation shall be fees : 
Provided, the general assembly may, by law, make the clerk of the circuit court 
ex officio recorder, in lieu of the county clerk. 

20. The general assembly shall provide for the compensation of the county 
judge. 

21. The clerks of the supreme and circuit courts, and state's attorneys, shall 
be elected at the first special election for judges. The second election for 
clerks of the supreme court shall be held on the first Monday of June, 1855, 
and every sixth year thereafter. The second election for clerks of the circuit 
courts, and state's attorneys, shall be held on the Tuesday next after the first 
Monday of November, 1852, and every fourth year thereafter. 

22. All judges and state's attorneys shall be commissioned by the governor. 

23. The election of all officers, and the filling of all vacancies that may hap- 
pen by death, resignation, or removal, not otherwise directed or provided for 
by this constitution, shall be made in such manner as the general assembly 
shall direct: Provided, that no such officer shall be elected by the general 
assembly. 

24. The general assembly may authorize the judgments, decrees, and deci- 
sions, of any local, inferior court of record, of original civil or criminal juris- 
diction, established in a city, to be removed, for revision, directly into the 
supreme court. 

25. County judges, clerks, sheriffs, and other county officers, for wilful neg- 
lect of duty, or misdemeanor in office, shall be liable to presentment or indict- 
ment by a grand jury, and trial by a petit jury ; and, upon conviction, shall be 
removed from office. 

26. All process, writs, and other proceedings, shall run in the name of "The 
people of the State of Illinois.'" All prosecutions shall be carried on "In the 
name and by the authority of the people of the State of Illinois," and conclude, 
11 Against the peace and dignity of the same." 

27. There shall be elected in each county in this state, in such districts as 
the general assembly may direct, by the qualified electors thereof, a competent 
number of justices of the peace, who shall hold their offices for the term of four 
years, and until their successors shall have been elected and qualified, and who 
shall perform such duties, receive such compensation, and exercise such juris- 
diction, as may be prescribed by law. 

28. There shall be elected, in each of the judicial circuits of this state, by 
the qualified electors thereof, one state's attorney, who shall hold bis office for 
the term of four years, and until his successor shall be commissioned and 
qualified ; who shall perform such duties and receive such compensation as 
may be prescribed by law : Provided, that the general assembly may hereafter 



CONSTITUTION. 155 

pro-vide by law for the election, by the qualified voters of each county in this 
state, of one county attorney for each county, in lieu of the state's attorneys 
provided for in this section ; the term of office, duties, and compensation of 
which county attorneys, shall be regulated by law. 

29. The qualified electors of each county in this state shall elect a clerk of 
the circuit court, who shall hold his office for the term of four years, and 
until his successor shall have been elected and qualified, who shall perform 
such duties and receive such compensation as may be prescribed by law. The 
clerks of the supreme court shall be elected, in each division, by the qualified 
electors thereof, for the term of six years, and until their successors shall have 
been elected and qualified ; whose duties and compensation shall be provided 
by law. 

30. The first grand division, for the election of judges of the supreme court, 
shall consist of the counties of Alexander, Pulaski, Massac, Pope, Hardin, 
Gallatin, Saline, Williamson, Johnson, Union, Jackson, Randolph, Perry, 
Franklin, Hamilton, White, Wabash, Edwards, Wayne, Jefferson, Washington, 
Monroe, St. Clair, Clinton, Marion, Clay, Richland, Lawrence, Crawford, 
Jasper, Effingham, Fayette, Bond, Madison, Jersey, and Calhoun. 

The second grand division shall consist of the counties of Edgar, Coles, 
Moultrie, Shelby, Montgomery, Macoupin, Greene, Pike, Adams, Highland, 
Hancock, MeDonough, Schuyler, Brown, Fulton, Mason, Cass, Morgan, Scott, 
Sangamon, Christian, Macon, Piatt, Champaign, Vermilion, De Witt, Logan, 
Menard, Cumberland, and Clark. 

The third grand division shall consist of the counties of Henderson, Warren, 
Knox, Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, McLean, Livingston, Iroquois, Will, Grundy, 
Kendall, La Salle, Putnam, Marshall, Stark, Bureau, Henry, Mercer, Rock 
Island, Whiteside, Lee, Carroll, Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Winnebago, Ogle, De 
Kalb, Boone, Kane, McHenry, Lake, Cook, and Du Page. 

31. The terms of the supreme court for the first division, shall be held at 
Mount Vernon, in Jefferson county ; for the second division, at Springfield, in 
Sangamon county ; for the third division, at Ottawa, in La Salle county ; until 
some other place, in either division, is fixed by law. 

32. Appeals and writs of error may be taken from the circuit court of any 
county to the supreme court held in the division which includes such county, 
or, with the consent of all the parties in the cause, to the supreme court in the 
next adjoining division. 

33. The foregoing districts may, after the taking of each census by the state, 
be altered, if necessary, to equalize the said districts in population ; but such 
alteration shall be made by adding to such district such adjacent county or 
counties as will make said district nearest equal in population : Provided, no 
such alteration shall affect the office of any judge then in office 



156 CONSTITUTION. 

Article VI. — On Elections and the Right of Suffrage. 

Sec. 1. In all elections, every white male citizen above the age of twenty-one 
years, having resided in the state one year next preceding any election, shall 
be entitled to vote at such election ; and every white male inhabitant of the 
age aforesaid, who may be a resident of the state at the time of the adoption 
of this constitution, shall have the right of voting as aforesaid ; but no such 
citizen or inhabitant shall be entitled to vote, except in the district or county 
in which he shall actually reside at the time of such election. 

2. All votes shall be given by ballot. 

3. Electors shall in all cases, except treason, felony, or breach of the peace, 
be privileged from arrest during their attendance at elections, and in going to 
and returning from the same. 

4. No elector shall be obliged to do militia duty on the days of election, ex- 
cept in time of war or public danger. 

5. No elector shall be deemed to have lost his residence in this state by 
reason of his absence on the business of the United States or of this state. 

6. No soldier, seaman, or marine, in the army or navy of the United States, 
shall be deemed a resident of this state, in consequence of being stationed at 
any military or naval place within the state. 

7. No person shall be elected or appointed to any office in this state, civil or 
military, who is not a citizen of the United States, and who shall not have 
resided in this state one year next before the election or appointment. 

8. The general assembly shall have full power to pass laws excluding from 
the right of suffrage persons convicted of infamous crimes.. 

9. The general elections shall be held on the Tuesday next after the first 
Monday of November, biennially, until otherwise provided by law. 

Article VII. — Of Counties. 

Sec. 1. No new county shall be formed or established by the general assem- 
bly, which will reduce the county or counties, or either of them, from which it 
shall be taken, to less contents than four hundred square miles ; nor shall any 
county be formed of less contents ; nor shall any line thereof pass within less 
than ten miles of any county seat of the county or counties proposed to be 
divided. 

2. No county shall be divided, or have any part stricken therefrom, without 
submitting the question to a vote of the people of the county, nor unless a 
majority of all the legal voters of the county voting on the question shall vote 
for the same. 

3. All territory which has been, or may be stricken off, by legislative enact- 
ment, from any organized county or counties, for the purpose of forming a 
new county, and which shall remain unorganized after the period provided for 
such organization, shall be and remain a part of the county or counties from 



CONSTITUTION. 157 

which it -was originally taken, for all purposes of county and state government, 
until otherwise provided by law. 

4. There shall be no territory stricken from any county unless a majority 
of the voters living in such territory shall petition for such division ; and no 
territory shall be added to any county without the consent of a majority of the 
voters of the county to which it is proposed to be added. 

5. No county seat shall be removed until the point to which it is proposed 
to be removed shall be fixed by law, and a majority of the voters of the county 
shall have voted in favor of its removal to such point. 

6. The general assembly shall provide, by a general law, for a township 
organization, under which any county may organize whenever a majority of 
the voters of such county, at any general election, shall so determine ; and 
whenever any county shall adopt a township organization, so much of this 
constitution as provides for the management of the fiscal concerns of the said 
county by the county court, may be dispensed with, and the affairs of said 
county may be transacted in such manner as the general assembly may 
provide. 

7. There shall be elected in each county in this state, by the qualified elect- 
ors thereof, a sheriff", who shall hold his office for the term of two years, and 
until his successor shall have been elected and qualified : Provided, no person 
shall be eligible to the said office more than once in four years. 

Article VIII. — Militia. 

Sec. 1. The militia of the state of Illinois shall consist of all free male able- 
bodied persons (negroes, mulattoes, and Indians excepted), residents of the 
state, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, except such persons 
as now are or hereafter may be exempted by the laws of the United States or 
of this state, and shall be armed, equipped, and trained, as the general assem- 
bly may provide by law. 

2. No person or persons, conscientiously scrupulous of bearing arms, shall 
be compelled to do militia duty in time of peace, provided such person or per- 
sons shall pay an equivalent for such exemption. 

3. Company, battalion, and regimental officers, staff officers excepted, shall 
be elected by the persons composing their several companies, battalions, and 
regiments. 

4. Brigadier and major-generals shall be elected by the officers of their 
brigades and divisions, respectively. 

5. All militia officers shall be commissioned by the governor, and may hold 
their commissions for such time as the legislature may provide. 

6. The militia shall, in all cases, except treason, felony, or breach of the 
peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at musters and elec- 
tions of officers, and in going to and returning from the same. 

14 



158 CONSTITUTION. 

Article IX. — Of the Revenue. 
Sec. I. The general assembly may, whenever they shall deem it necessary, 
cause to be collected from all able-bodied, free white male inhabitants of this 
state, over the age of twenty-one years, and under the age of sixty years, 
who are entitled to the right of suffrage, a capitation tax of not less than fiftj 
cents, nor more than one dollar each. 

2. The general assembly shall provide for levying a tax by valuation, so that 
every person and corporation shall pay a tax in proportion to the value of his 
or her property ; such value to be ascertained by some person or persons to 
be elected or appointed in such manner as the general assembly shall direct, 
and not otherwise ; but the general assembly shall have power to tax pedlars, 
auctioneers, brokers, hawkers, merchants, commission merchants, showmen, 
jugglers, inn-keepers, grocery-keepers, toll bridges and ferries, and persons 
using and exercising franchises and privileges, in such manner as they shall 
from time to time direct. 

3. The property of the state and counties, both real and personal, and such 
other property as the general assembly may deem necessary for school, reli- 
gious, and charitable purposes, may be exempted from taxation. 

4. Hereafter, no purchaser of any land or town lot, at any sale of lands or 
town lots for taxes due either to this state, or any county, or incorporated 
town or city within the same ; or at any sale for taxes or levies authorized by 
the laws of this state, shall be entitled to a deed for the lands or town lot so 
purchased, until he or she shall have complied with the following conditions, 
to wit : Such pitrchaser shall serve, or cause to be served, a written notice of 
such purchase, on every person in possession of such land or town lot, three 
months before the expiration of the time of redemption on such sale ; in which 
notice he shall state when he purchased the land or town lot, the description 
of the land or lot he has purchased, and when the time of redemption will 
expire. In like manner he shall serve on the person or persons in whose name 
or names such land or lot is taxed, a similar written notice, if such person or 
persons shall reside in the county where such land or lot shall be situated ; and 
in the event that the person or persons in whose name or names the land or 
lot is taxed, do not reside in the county, such purchaser shall publish such 
notice in some newspaper printed in such county; and if no newspaper is 
printed in the county, then in the nearest newspaper that is published in this 
state to the county in which such lot or land is situated ; which notice shall be 
inserted three times, the last time not less than three months before the time 
of redemption shall expire. Every such purchaser, by himself or agent, shall, 
before he shall be entitled to a deed, make an affidavit of his having complied 
with the conditions of this section, stating particularly the facts relied on as 
such compliance ; which affidavit shall be delivered to the person authorized 
by law to execute such tax deed, and which shall by him be filed with the 
officer having custody of the records of lands and lots sold ft* taxes and entries 






CONSTITUTION. 159 

of redemption, in the county where such land or lot shall lie, to he by such 
officer entered on the records of his office, and carefully preserved among the 
files of his office ; and which record or affidavit shall be prima facie evidence 
that such notice has been given. Any person swearing falsely in such affidavit 
shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and punished accordingly. In case any 
person shall be compelled, under this section, to publish a notice in a news- 
paper, then, before any person, who may have a right to redeem such land or 
lot from tax sale, shall be permitted to redeem, he or she shall pay the officer 
or person who by law is authorized to receive such redemption-money, the 
printer's fee for publishing such notice, and the expenses of swearing or 
affirming to the affidavit, and filing the same. 

5. The corporate authorities of counties, townships, school districts, cities, 
towns, and villages, may be vested with power to assess and collect taxes for 
corporate purposes ; such taxes to be uniform in respect to persons and pro- 
perty within the jurisdiction of the body imposing the same. And the general 
assembly shall require that all the property within the limits of municipal cor- 
porations, belonging to individuals, shall be taxed for the payment of debts 
contracted under authority of law. 

6. The specification of the objects and subjects of taxation shall not deprive 
the general assembly of the power to require other objects or subjects to be 
taxed in such manner as may be consistent with the principles of taxation 
fixed in this constitution. 

Article X. — Corporations. 

Sec. 1. Corporations, not possessing banking powers or privileges, may be 
formed under general laws, but shall not be created by special acts, except for 
municipal purposes, and in cases where, in the judgment of the general as- 
sembly, the objects of the corporation cannot be attained under general laws. 

2. Dues from corporations, not possessing banking powers or privileges, shall 
be secured by such individual liabilities of the corporators, or other means, as 
may be prescribed by law. 

3. No state bank shall hereafter be created, nor shall the state own or be 
liable for any stock in any corporation or joint stock association for banking 
purposes, to be hereafter created. 

4. The stockholders in every corporation or joint stock association, for bank- 
ing purposes, issuing bank notes, or any kind of paper credits to circulate as 
money, shall be individually responsible, to the amount of their respective 
share or shares of stock in any such corporation or association, for all its debts 
and liabilities of every kind. 

5. No act of the general assembly, authorizing corporations or associations 
with banking powers, shall go into effect, or in any manner be in force, unless 
the same shall be submitted to the people at the general election next succeed- 
ing the passage of the same, and be approved by a majority of all the votes 
cast at ~uch election for and against such law. 



160 CONSTITUTION. 

6. The general assembly shall encourage internal improvements, by passing 
liberal general laws of incorporation for that purpose. 

Article XI. — Commons. 

All lands which have been granted, as a " common," to the inhabitants of 
any town, hamlet, village, or corporation, by any person, body politic or cor- 
porate, or by any government having power to make such grant, shall for ever 
remain common to the inhabitants of such town, hamlet, village, or corporation ; 
but the said commons, or any of them, or any part thereof, may be divided, 
leased, or granted, in such manner as may hereafter be provided by law, on 
petition of a majority of the qualified voters interested in such commons, or 
any of them. 

Article XII. — Amendments to the Constitution. 

Sec. 1. Whenever two-thirds of all the members elected to each branch of 
the general assembly shall think it necessary to alter or amend this constitu- 
tion, they shall recommend to the electors at the next election of members of 
the general assembly, to vote for or against a convention ; and if it shall appear 
that a majority of all the electors of the state voting for representatives have 
voted for a convention, the general assembly shall, at their next session, call a 
convention, to consist of as many members as the house of representatives at 
the time of making said call, to be chosen in the same manner, at the same 
place, and by the same electors, in the same districts that chose the members 
of the house of representatives ; and which convention shall meet within three 
months after the said election, for the purpose of revising, altering, or amend- 
ing this constitution. 

2. Any amendment or amendments to this constitution may be proposed in 
either branch of the general assembly ; and if the same shall be agreed to by 
two-thirds of all the members elect in each of the two houses, such proposed 
amendment or amendments shall be referred to the next regular session of the 
general assembly, and shall be published at least three months previous to the 
time of holding the next election for members of the house of representatives ; 
and if, at the next regular session of the general assembly after said election, 
a majority of all the members elect, in each branch of the general assembly, 
shall agree to said amendment or amendments, then it shall be their duty to 
submit the same to the people at the next general election, for their adoption 
or rejection, in such manner as may be prescribed by law; and if a majority 
of all the electors voting at such election for members of the house of repre- 
sentatives, shall vote for such amendment or amendments, the same shall 
become a part of the constitution. But the general assembly shall not have 
power to propose an amendment or amendments to more than one article of 
the constitution at the same session. 



CONSTITUTION. 161 

Article XIII. — Declaration of Rights. 

That the general, great, and essential principles of liberty and free govern- 
ment may be recognised and unalterably established, we declare : — 

Sec. 1. That all men are born equally free and independent, and haye cer- 
tain inherent and indefeasible rights ; among which are those of enjoying and 
defending life and liberty, and of acquiring, possessing, and protecting pro- 
perty and reputation, and of pursuing their own happiness. 

2. That all power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are 
founded on their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety, and happi- 
ness. 

3. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty 
God according to the dictates of their own consciences ; that no man can of 
right be compelled to attend, erect, or support any place of worship, or to 
maintain any ministry, against his consent ; that no human authority can, in 
any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience ; and that 
no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious establishments or 
modes of worship. 

4. That no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any 
office of public trust under this state. 

5. That aU elections shall be free and equal. 

6. That the right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate ; and shall extend to 
all cases at law, without regard to the amount in controversy. 

7. That the people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and pos- 
sessions, from unreasonable searches and seizures : and that general warrants, 
whereby an officer may be commanded to search suspected places without evi- 
dence of the fact committed, or to seize any person or persons not named, 
whose offences are not particularly described and supported by evidence, are 
dangerous to liberty, and ought not to be granted. 

8. That no freeman shall be imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold, liber- 
ties, or privileges, or outlawed or exiled, or in any manner deprived of his life, 
liberty, or property, but by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land. 

9. That in all criminal prosecutions, the accused hath a right to be heard by 
himself and counsel ; to demand the nature and cause of the accusation against 
him ; to meet the witnesses face to face ; to have compulsory process to com- 
pel the attendance of witnesses in his favor ; and in prosecutions by indictment 
or information, a speedy public trial by an impartial jury of the county or dis- 
trict wherein the offence shah have been committed, which county or district 
shall have been previously ascertained by law ; and that he shall not be com- 
pelled to give evidence against himself. j 

10. No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offence unless on the 
presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases of impeachment, 
or in cases cognizable by justices of the peace, or arising in the army or navy, 
or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or publio danger : Pro- 

14* L 



162 CONSTITUTION. 

vided, that justices of the peace shall try no person, except as a cotirt of inquiry, 
for any offence punishable with imprisonment or death, or fine above one hun- 
dred dollars. 

11. No person shall, for the same offence, be twice put in jeopardy of his 
life or limb ; nor shall any man's property be taken or applied to public use 
without the consent of his representatives in the general assembly, nor without 
just compensation being made to him. 

12. Every person within this state ought to find a certain remedy in the laws 
for all injuries or wrongs which he may receive in his person, property, or 
character; he ought to obtain right and justice freely, and without being 
obliged to purchase it, completely and without denial, promptly and without 
delay, conformably to the laws. 

13. That all persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, unless for capital 
offences where the proof is evident or the presumption great ; and the privi- 
lege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless, when in cases 
of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it. 

14. All penalties shall be proportioned to the nature of the offence ; the true 
design of all punishment being to reform, not to exterminate mankind. 

15. No person shall be imprisoned for debt, unless upon refusal to deliver up 
his estate for the benefit of his creditors, in such manner as shall be prescribed 
by law, or in cases where there is strong presumption of fraud. 

16. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in this state, 
except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly 
convicted. 

17. No ez post facto law, nor any law impairing the obligation of contracts, 
shall ever be made: and no conviction shall work corruption of blood or for- 
feiture of estate. 

18. That no person shall be liable to be transported out of this state for any 
offence committed within the same. 

19. That a frequent recurrence to the fundamental principles of civil govern- 
ment is absolutely necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty. 

20. The military shall be in strict subordination to the civil power. 

21. That the people have a right to assemble together in a peaceable manner 
to consult for their common good, to instruct their representatives, and to apply 
to the general assembly for redress of grievances. 

22. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without 
the consent of the owner ; nor in time of war, except in manner prescribed by 
law. 

23. The printing-presses shall be free to every person who undertakes to 
examine the proceedings of the general assembly, or of any branch of govern- 
ment; and no law shall ever be made to restrain the right thereof. The free 
communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable rights of 
man ; and every citizen may freely speak, write, and print, on any subject, 
being responsible for the abuse of that liberty. 



CONSTITUTION. 163 

24. In prosecutions for the publication of papers investigating the official 
conduct of officers, or of men acting in a public capacity, or when the matter 
published is proper for public information, the truth thereof may be given in 
evidence ; and in all indictments for libels, the jury shall have the right of 
determining both the law and the fact, under the direction of the court, as in 
other cases. 

25. Any person who shall, after the adoption of this constitution, fight a 
duel, or send or accept a challenge for that purpose, or be aider or abettor in 
fighting a duel, shall be deprived of the right of holding any office of honor 
or profit in this state, and shall be punished otherwise, in such manner as is 
or may be prescribed by law. 

26. That from and after the adoption of this constitution, every person who 
shall be elected or appointed to any office of profit, trust, or emolument, civil 
or military, legislative, executive, or judicial, under the government of this 
state, shall, before he enters upon the duties of his office, in addition to the 
oath prescribed in this constitution, take the following oath : "Ido solemnly 
swear [or affirm, as the case may be] that I have not fought a duel, nor sent 
or accepted a challenge to fight a duel, the probable issue of which might have 
been the death of either party, nor been a second to either party, nor in any 
manner aided or assisted in such duel, nor been knowingly the bearer of such 
challenge or acceptance, since the adoption of the constitution; and that I 
wUl not be so engaged or concerned, directly or indirectly, in or about any 
such duel, during my continuance in office. So help me, God." 

Article XIV. — Public Debt. 

There shall be annually assessed and collected, in the same manner as other 
state revenue may be assessed and collected, a tax of two mills upon each dol- 
lar's worth of taxable property, in addition to all other taxes, to be applied as 
follows, to wit : The fund so created shall be kept separate, and shall annually, 
on the first day of January, be apportioned and paid over, pro rata, upon all 
such state indebtedness, other than the canal and school indebtedness, as may, 
for that purpose, be presented by the holders of the same, to be entered as 
credits upon, and, to that extent, in extinguishment of the principal of said 
indebtedness. 



GOVERNMENT JUDICIARY, AND FINANCES. 



GOVERNMENT. 

Joel A. Mattison (manufacturer), of Will county, Governor, and ex officio 
Land Commissioner. Term ends, second Monday in January, 1857. Salary, 
$1500. 

Gustavus Koerner (lawyer), of St. Clair county, Lieutenant-Governor. 
Salary, $3 a day during session, and 10 cents a mile travel. 

Alexander Starne (merchant), of Pike county, Secretary of State. Term 
ends, January, 1857. Salary, fees and $800.* 

Thomas H. Campbell (lawyer), of Springfield, Auditor. Term ends, Janu- 
ary, 1857. Salary, $1000.* 

John Moore (farmer), of Randolph's Grove, Treasurer. Term ends, Janu- 
ary, 1857. Salary, $800.* 

Ninian W. Edwards, of Sangamon county, State Superintendent of Common 
Schools. Term ends, January, 1857. Salary, $1500. 

J. G. Norwood, M. D., of Sangamon county, State Geologist. 

Moses K. Anderson, of Sangamon county, Adjutant-General. 

Thomas J. Turner, of Stephenson, Speaker of the House. Salary, $3 a day 
during the session. 

E. T. Bridges, of La Salle, Clerk. 

George T. Brown, of Madison, Secretary of Senate. 

The sessions of the Legislature are biennial. The nineteenth ses- 
sion commenced in January, 1855. 

JUDICIARY. 

Supreme Court. 

First Division. — Walter B. Scates, of Jefferson county, Chief Justice. Term 
ends, June, 1861. Salary, $1200. Noah Johnson, of Jefferson county, Clerk. 
Fees. 

Second Division. — Onias C. Skinner, of Quincy, Judge. Term ends, June, 
1858. Salary, $1200. Wm. A. Turney, of Springfield, Clerk. Term ends, 
June, 1861. Fees. 

* Exclusive of clerk hire. 

(164) 



JUDICIARY. 



165 



Third Division. — J. Deane Catton, of Ottawa, Judge. Term ends, June, 
1864. Salary, $1200. Lorenzo Leland, of Ottawa, Clerk. Term ends, June, 
1861. Fees. * 

Ebenezer Peck, of Chicago, Reporter. 

This Court holds one session in each division of the State each 
year. The terms are : first division, at Mt. Vernon, Jefferson county, 
on the second Monday in November; second division, at Springfield, 
on the third Monday in December; third division, at Ottawa, La 
Salle county, on the first Monday in February. 

Circuit Courts.* 



CIR- 
CUIT. 


NAME OF JUDGE. 


RESIDENCE. 


sal'ry. 


PROS. ATTORNEY. 


RESIDENCE. 


SALARY. 


1. 


D. M. Woodson, 


Greene co. 


$1000 


Cyrus Epley, 


Morgan co. 


$500 & fees. 


2. 


Sidney Breese, 


St. Clair co. 


a 


Wm. H". Snyder, 


St. Clair co. 


" 


3. 


Wm. K. Parish, 


Franklin co. 


a 


Jno. A. Logan, 


Jackson co. 


u 


4. 


Justin Harlan, 


Clarke co. 


" 


A. Kitchell, 


Richland co. 


" 


5. 


P. H. Walker, 


Schuyler co. 


" 


Jno. S. Bailey, 


McDonough co. 


u 


6. 


J. W. Drury, 


Rock Island co. 


it 


Wm. T. Miller, 


Carroll co. 


" 


7. 


Geo. Mainerre, 


Cook co. 


« 


Daniel Mcllroy, 


Cook co. 


" 


8. 


David Davis, 


McLean co. 


" 


A. M. Williams, 


Sangamon co. 


a 


9. 


M. E. Hollister, 


La Salle co. 
Mercer co. 


" 


W. H. L. Wallace. 


La Salle co. 


" 


10. 


J. I. Thompson, 


a 


Wm. C. Grudy, 


Fulton co. 


" 


11. 


S. W. Randall, 


Will co. 


" 


S. W. Bowen, 


Will co. 


" 


12. 


Edwin Beecher, 


Wayne co. 


" 


J. S. Robinson, 


White co. 


a 


13. 


Isaac G. Wilson, 


Kane co. 


" 


M. W. Boyce, 


Boone co. 


(i 


14. 


B. R. Sheldon, 


Jo Daviess co. 


" 


Wm. Brown, 


Winnebago co. 


a 


15. 


Jos. Sibley, 


Hancock co. 


« 


C. A. Warren, 


Adams co. 


" 


16. 


Onslow Peters, 


Peoria co. 


a 


E. G. Johnson, 


Peoria co. 


a 


17. 


Chas. Emerson, 


Macon co. '- " 


G. Rust, 


Macon co. 


" 



Cook County Common Pleas. — John M. Wilson, Judge. Term ends, 1857. 
Salary, $1000 and fees. Walter Kimball, Clerk. 

Recorder's Court of the City of Chicago. — Robert S. Wilson, Judge. Term 
ends, 1858. Salary, $2200 and fees. Daniel Mcllroy, Prosecuting Attorney. 
T" erm ends, 1856. Salary, $500 and fees. Philip A. Hoyne, Clerk. Term 
ends, 1858. Fees. 

These Courts have concurrent jurisdiction in the county and city, 
respectively, with the Circuit Court and Common Pleas, in all civil 
cases, and in all criminal cases, except murder and treason. Each 
county has a County Court, with jurisdiction to the same amount as 
Justices of the Peace, but their business is chiefly probate matters. 



* The term of office of the several judges ends in June. 1861; of the prosecuting attorneys, 
November, 1856. 



166 FINANCES. 

FINANCES. 

The debt of the State, principal and interest, was, January 1, 1855 
$13,994,615. During the two years ending November 30, 1854, 
there has been paid of the public debt, in addition to $1,200,000 paid 
on account of accruing interest, the sum of $2,750,038, making a 
total of $3,950,038 paid during this time, on account of the public 
debt. If the present rate of taxation is continued, and the present 
method of reducing the State debt followed, it will be eventually ex- 
tinguished in 1866. 

The receipts into the treasury for ordinary revenue, 
for the two years ending November 30, 1854,* 

chiefly from taxes, were $408,529 77 

Add balance in the treasury, Dec. 1, 1852, 146,372 36 

$554,902 13 

The expenditures for the same period, were : 

Ordinary expenses, $255,195 31 

Special appropriations and expenditures, 269,720 85 

Old warrants and miscellaneous, 961 13 

525,877 29 

Balance in the treasury, Dec. 1, 1854, $29,024 84 

Amount of interest fund tax received for the same period, in- 
cluding balance, was 592,972 08 

Amount of warrants issued for payment of interest cancelled, ... 528,294 66 

Amount received for liquidation of State debt, including balance, 963,708 37 

Warrants for pro rata payments of State indebtedness cancelled, 544,555 50 

The total assessed value of property in the State in 1852, was 
$149,294,805; in 1853, $225,159,633. Rate of taxation on each 
$100: in 1852, 60J cents; in 1853, 49| cents. During the two 

* The following letter of the State Treasurer to the Chicago Tribune, gives the total amount 
paid by the people into the treasury in 1855 : 

Treasurer's Office, Springfield, Dec. 14, 1855. 

Editors of the Tribune .'—Agreeably to your request, I send you the amount of payments 
into the treasury, from 1st January to 30th November, 1855, upon the assessment of 1854, 
alone, as follows : 

Revenue purposes, $288,586 78 

State debt (2 mills tax), 478,753 56 

Interest fund, , 358,757 32 

Total receipts for 1855, $1,126,077 56 

Very respectfully, &c, John Moore, 

Treasurer of the State of Illinois. 



FINANCES. 167 

years $280,894.06 were received from the sale of 80,126.04 acres of 
land belonging to the State, and 48,598.15 acres remained unsold, 
December 1, 1854. 

Amount of funds devoted to Common Schools, December 10, 1854 : 

Three per cent, on net proceeds of public lands (ex- 
cept one-sixth), $463,490 93 

Surplus revenue from the United States, 335,592 32 

$799,083 25 

There are, besides : 

The College Fund, being one-sixth of the three per 

cent, fund, $92,G82 1C 

The Seminary Fund, i. e. proceeds of sales of semi- 
nary lands, 59,738 72 

152,420 82 

Making, devoted to purposes of education,. $951,504 07 

The whole of this -sum has been borrowed or appropriated by the 
State, and devoted to pay the current expenses of the government. 
The State pays six per cent, interest on the amount. The interest of 
the Common School Fund for 1853, was $57,090.25, which, except 
one-fourth of one per cent. ($2,378.76) paid to the Deaf and Dumb 
Asylum, was divided among the several counties, in proportion to the 
number of white children under the age of 21. 

Besides this State fund, there are county and township funds. The 
value of the county funds is estimated at $50,000 ; of the township 
funds, $1,952,090.51; which would make a total principal of 
$2,953,594.58. The interest on the State fund is at 6 per cent. ; on 
county and township funds, at 10 per cent. ; total net proceeds of 
interest, $196,281.54. 



LAWS. 



LAND TITLES. 



The following are the provisions of the Revised Statutes concerning 
the regulation of estates and land : — 

Livery of seisin shall in no case be necessary for the conveyance of real 
property ; but every deed, mortgage, or other conveyance in writing, signed 
and sealed by the party making the same (the maker or makers being of full 
age, sound mind, discovert, at large, and not in duress), shall be sufficient, 
without livery of seisin, for the giving, granting, selling, mortgaging, leasing, 
or otherwise conveying or transferring any lands, tenements, or hereditaments 
in this state, so as, to all intents and purposes, absolutely and fully to vest in 
every donee, grantee, bargainee, mortgagee, lessee, or purchaser, ail such 
estate or estates as shall be specified in any such deed, mortgage, lease, or 
other conveyance. Nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to divest 
or defeat the older or better estate or right of any person or persons not a 
party to any such deed, mortgage, lease, or other conveyance. (E. S. 102, 
Sec. 1.) 

Every estate, feoffment, gift, grant, deed, mortgage, lease, release, or con- 
firmation of lands, tenements, rents, services, or hereditaments, made or had, 
or hereafter to be made or had, by any person or persons, being of full age, 
sound mind, discovert, at large, and not in duress, to any person or persons, 
and all recoveries, judgments, and executions had or made, or to be had or 
made, shall be good and effectual to him, her, or them, to whom it is or shall 
be made, had, or given, and to all others ; to his, her, or their use, against 
the judgment-debtor, seller, feoffor, donor, grantor, mortgagor, lessor, releasor, 
or confirmer, and against his, her, or their heirs or heir claiming the same 
only as heir or heirs, and every of them, and against all others having or 
claiming any title or interest in the same only to the use of the same judgment- 
debtor, seller, feoffor, donor, grantor, mortgagor, lessor, releasor, or confirmer, 
or his, her, or their said heirs, at the time of the judgment, execution, bar- 
gain, sale, mortgage, covenant, lease, release, gift, or grant made. (R. S., 
page 103, Sec. 2.) 

Where any person or persons stand or be seized, or at any time hereafter 
shall stand or be seized, of and in any messuages, lands, tenements, rents, 
services, reversions, remainder, or other hereditaments, to the use, confidence, 

(168) 



LAWS. . 169 

or trust of any other person or persons, or of any body politic, by reason of 
any bargain, sale, feoffment, fine, recovery, covenant, contract, agreement, 
will, or otherwise, by any manner of means whatsoever ; in every such case, 
all and every such person or persons and bodies politic that have, or hereafter 
shall have, any such use, confidence, or trust in fee simple, for terms of life, 
or for years, or otherwise, or any use, confidence, or trust in remainder or 
reversion, shall from thenceforth stand and be seized, deemed, and adjudged 
in lawful seisin, estate, and possession of and in the same messuages, lands, 
tenements, rents, services, reversions, remainders, and hereditaments, with 
their appurtenances, to all intents, constructions, and purposes in law, of and 
in such like estates as they had or shall have in use, confidence, or trust of or 
in the same ; and that the estate, right, title, and possession that was or shall 
be in such person or persons that was or hereafter shall be seized of any lands, 
tenements, or hereditaments., to the use, confidence, or trust of any person or 
persons, or of any body politic, be from henceforth clearly deemed and adjudged 
to be in him, her, or them that have or hereafter shall have such use, confi- 
dence, or trust, after such quality, manner, form, and condition as they had 
before in or to the use, confidence, or trust that was or shall be in them. 
(R. S., p. 103, Sec. 3.) 

Any person claiming right or title to lands, tenements, or hereditaments, 
although he, she, or they may be out of possession, and notwithstanding there 
may be an adverse possession thereof, may sell, convey and tranfer his or her 
interest in and to the same in as full and complete a manner as if he or she 
were* in the actual possession of the lands and premises intended to be con- 
veyed, and the grantee or grantees shall have the same right of action for the 
recovery thereof, and shall in all respects derive the same benefits and advan- 
tages therefrom, as if the grantor or grantors had been in the actual possession 
at the time of executing the conveyance. (R. S., p. 103, Sec. 4.) 

No estate in joint tenancy in any lands, tenements, or hereditaments shall 
be held or claimed under any grant, devise, or conveyance whatsoever hereto- 
fore or hereafter made, other than to executors and trustees, unless the pre- 
mises therein mentioned shall expressly be thereby declared to pass, not in 
tenancy in common, but in joint tenancy; and every such estate, other than 
to executors or trustees, (unless otherwise expressly declared, as aforesaid,) 
shall be deemed to be in tenancy in common. (R. S., p. 103, Sec. 5.) 

In cases where by the common law any person or persons might hereafter 
become seized in fee tail of any lands, tenements or hereditaments by virtue 
of any devise, gift, grant, or other conveyance hereafter to be made, or by any 
other means whatsoever, such person or persons, instead of being or becoming 
seized thereof in fee tail, shall be deemed and adjudged to be and become 
seized thereof for his or her natural life only, and the remainder shall pass in 
fee simple absolute to the person or persons to whom the estate tail would, on 

15 



170 * LAWS. 

the death of the first grantee, devisee, or donee in tail, first pass according to 
the coarse of the common law by virtue of such devise, gift, grant, or convey- 
ance. (R. S., p. 104, Sec. 6.) 

If any person shall sell and convey to another by deed or conveyance pur- 
porting to convey an estate in fee simple absolute in any tract of land or real 
estate lying and being in this state, not then being possessed of the legal 
estate or interest therein at the time of the sale and conveyance, but after 
such sale and conveyance the vendor shall become possessed of and confirmed 
in the legal estate to the land or real estate so sold and conveyed, it shall be 
taken and held to be in trust and for the use of the grantee or vendee, and 
the conveyance aforesaid shall be held and taken, and shall be as valid as if +he 
grantor or vendor had the legal estate or interest at the time of said sale or 
conveyance. (R. S., p. 104, Sec. 7.) 

Every person in the actual possession of lands or tenements under claim and 
color of title made in good faith, and who shall for seven successive years con- 
tinue in such possession, and shall also during said time pay all taxes legally 
assessed on such lands or tenements, shall be held and adjudged to be the 
legal owner of said lands or tenements to the extent and according to the pur- 
port of his or her paper title. All persons holding under such possession by 
purchase, devise, or descent before said seven years shall have expired, and 
who shall continue such possession, and continue to pay the taxes as aforesaid, 
so as to complete the possession and payment of taxes for the term aforesaid, 
shall be entitled to the benefit of this section. (R. S., p. 104, Sec. 8.) 

Whenever a person having color of title, made in good faith, to vacant and 
unoccupied land, shall pay all taxes legally assessed thereon for seven succes- 
sive years, he or she shall be deemed and adjudged to be the legal owner of 
said vacant and unoccupied land, to the extent and according to the purport 
of his or her paper title. All persons holding under such tax payer by pur- 
chase, devise, or descent before said seven years shall have expired, and who 
shall continue to pay the taxes as aforesaid, so as to complete the payment of 
taxes for the term aforesaid, shall be entitled to the benefit of this section : 
Provided, however, if any person having a better paper title to said vacant 
and unoccupied land shall, during the said term of seven years, pay the taxes 
assessed on said land for any one or more years of the said term of seven 
years, then and in that case such tax payer, his heirs and assigns, shall not 
be entitled to the benefit of this section.* (R. S., p. 104, Sec. 9.) 

* The Supreme Court of the United States did, not long ago, decide a case, which refers to 
the above, and regarding which the Chicago Democratic Press, dated Feb. 16, 1856, contains the 
following letter : — 

Quinct, February 5, 1856. 

Dear Sir: — I have just received the opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States in 
the case of Wright vs. Matteson. 



LAWS. 171 

The two preceding sections shall not extend to lands or tenements owned by 
the United States or this State, nor to school and seminary lands, nor to lands 
held for the use of religious societies, nor to lands held for any public purpose, 
nor shall they extend to lands or tenements when there shall be an adverse 
title to such lands or tenements, and the holder of such adverse title is under 
the age of twenty-one years, insane, imprisoned, femme covert, out of the 
limits of the United States, and in the employment of the United States or of 
this State : provided such person shall commence an action to recover such 
lands or tenements so possessed as aforesaid within three years after the 
several disabilities herein enumerated shall cease to exist, and shall prosecute 
such action to judgment, or in case of vacant and unoccupied land shall within 
the time last aforesaid pay to the person or persons who have paid the same 
all the taxes, with interest thereon at the rate of twelve per cent, per annum, 
that have been paid on said vacant and unoccupied land. (R. S., p. 104, 
Sec. 10.) 

All deeds whereby any estate of inheritance in fee simple shall hereafter be 
limited to the grantee and his heirs or other legal representatives, the words 
"grant," "bargain," "sell," shall be adjudged an express covenant to the 
grantee, his heirs and other legal representatives, to wit : that the grantor 
was seized of an indefeasible estate in fee simple, free from encumbrances 
done or suffered from the grantor, except the rents and services that may be 
reserved, as also for quiet enjoyment against the grantor, his heirs and assigns, 
unless limited by express words contained in such deed. And the grantee, his 
heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, may in any action assign breaches 
as if such covenants were expressly inserted : Provided, always, that this law 
shall not extend to lease at rack rent, or leases not exceeding twenty-one 
years, where the actual possession goes with the lease. (R. S., p. 105, 
Sec. 10.) 

Every deed conveying real estate which by any thing therein contained 



It is decided in my favor — that is, for Wright — and is full, satisfactory, and conclusive 
Under this decision, all persons who have had possession of land for seven years, and have 
paid taxes during that time, under any of our tax titles, from 1S23 down to the present time 
inclusive, will be fully and completely protected. 

The Court say. that however inadequate the deed may he to carry the true title to the pro- 
perty, and however incompetent may have been the power of the grantor, yet a claim asserted 
under such deed is strictly a claim under color of title, and one which will draw to the pos- 
session of the grantee the protection of the statutes of limitations. No matter whether the 
sale was regular or irregular, or on the right or wrong day, it is still color of title, and so it is 
if the party were in possession of the land when be purchased at the tax sale and acquired his 
deed. Nor is it necessary that he shall connect with any source of title. 

If be possesses in good order a deed from one having no pretence to title, it is the same 
thing. It is color of title, and protected by the statute. 

0. H. BROWXIXG. 



172 LAWS. 

shall appear to have been intended only as a security in the nature of a mort- 
gage, though it be an absolute conveyance in terms, shall be considered as a 
mortgage. (R. S., .p. 105, Sec. 12). 

Every estate in lands which shall be granted, conveyed, or devised to one, 
although words heretofore necessary to tranfer an estate of inheritance be not 
added, shall be deemed a fee simple estate of inheritance, if a less estate be 
not limited by express words, or do not appear to have been granted, conveyed, 
or devised by construction or operation of law. (R. S., p. 105. Sec. 13.) 

When an estate hath been or shall be by any conveyance limited in remain- 
der to the son or daughter, or to the use of the son or daughter, of any person, 
to be begotten, such son or daughter, born after the decease of his or her 
father, shall take the estate in the same manner as if he or she had been born 
in the lifetime of the father, although no estate shall have been conveyed 
to support the contingent remainder after his death. (R. S., p. 105, Sec. 
14.) 

All aliens residing in this State may take by deed, will, or otherwise, lands 
and tenements, and any interest therein, and alienate, sell, assign, and trans- 
mit the same to their heirs or any other persons, whether such heirs or other 
persons be citizens of the United States or not, in the same manner as natural 
born citizens of the United States or of this State might do ; and upon the 
decease of any alien having title to or interest in any lands or tenements, such 
lands and tenements shall pass and descend in the same manner as if such 
alien were a citizen of the United States ; but all such persons shall have the 
same rights and remedies, and in all things be placed on the same footing, as 
natural born citizens and actual residents of the United States. (R. S., p. 47, 
Sec. 1.) 

Execution of Deeds and Mortgages. 

The execution of Deeds and Mortgages is regulated by the following 
provisions of the Revised Statutes : 

Conveyances may be written or printed, must set forth the residence and 
the name of the parties, the land, and the terms of the grant, must be legible, 
and upon some material susceptible of delivery and record. 

They must be signed by the party or parties thereto. The provisions of the 
Statutes, however, permit the subscribing of a deed by an attorney of the 
grantor, if he should have been thereunto authorized by an instrument in 
writing, executed and acknowledged by his principals, with all the formalities 
required in the execution of a deed, and not otherwise. 

They should be attested by two subscribing witnesses, unless acknowledged 
previous to their delivery. 

They must be sealed. A scrawl of the pen may be used as a seal. It is 






LAWS. 173 

usual to flourish an intended circle at the right of the signature, with the 
initials L. S. inserted in it. 

Form of Acknowledgment. 

State of Illinois, \ 
County of j s ' 

Be it remembered, that on this first day of , one thousand eight 

hundred and , before me, John Hancock, a notary public, person- 

ally appeared John Walker and Mary his wife, to me known to be the real 
persons whose names are subscribed to the foregoing conveyance, and severally 
acknowledged that they executed the same, and the said Mary, on an exami- 
nation separate and apart from her husband, having had the contents thereof 
fully made known to her by me, acknowledged that she executed the same, 
and relinquished her dower to the lands and tenements therein mentioned, 
voluntarily, freely, and without any compulsion of her said husband. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and notarial seal of officej 
the day and year first above written. 

(Seal of office.) John Hancock, Notary Public. 

All persons of full age, except femmes covert, idiots, and lunatics, are enti- 
tled to convey real estate, subject to the provisions of the Statute. When any 
married woman shall join her husband in the execution of a deed or mortgage 
of his real estate, and acknowledge the same as mentioned below, she may 
relinquish her right of dower. (R. S. 106, Sec. 17.) 

Deeds containing the words "grant," "bargain," "sell," are adjudged to 
express a covenant to the grantee and his heirs and representatives, that the 
grantor was seized of an indefeasible estate in fee simple, free from incum- 
brances done or suffered by the grantor, except the rents and devises that may 
be reserved, and also for quiet enjoyment against the grantor, his heirs and 
assigns, unless limited by express words contained in such deed. (E. S. 105, 
Sec. 11.) 

Every deed conveying real estate, which, by anything therein contained, 
shall appear to have been intended only as a security in the nature of a mort- 
gage, though it be an absolute conveyance in terms, shaU be considered as a 
mortgage. (R. S., Sec. 12.) 

Provisions of the Statutes concerning Proof and Acknowledgment of 
Deeds and Mortgages, in Illinois. 
All instruments for the conveyance of real estate in this State, or any inte- 
rest therein, affecting the rights of any person in law or equity, must be 
acknowledged or proved before one of the following officers, viz. : When 
acknowledged or proven in Illinois, before any Judge, Justice, or Clerk of any 
Court of Record therein, having a seal, or before any Mayor of a city, Notary 
Public, or Commissioner authorized to take the acknowledgment of deeds, 

15* 



174 LAWS. 

having a seal, or any Justice of the Peace. When acknowledged or proved 
•without the State of Illinois, and within the United States or their territories, 
or the District of Columbia, before an officer commissioned for the purpose by 
the Governor of Illinois, in conformity with the laws of such State, Territory, 
or District ; provided, that any Clerk of a Court of Record within such State, 
Territory, or District, shall, under his hand and the seal of such Court, certify 
that such deed or instrument is executed and acknowledged, or proved, in 
conformity with the laws of such State, Territory, or District. When acknow- 
ledged or proven without the United States, before any Court of any Republic, 
State, Kingdom, or Empire, having a seal, or any Mayor or chief officer of any 
city or town, having a seal, or before any officer authorized, by the laws of 
such foreign country, to take acknowledgments of conveyances of real estate, 
if he have a seal, such deed to be attested by the official seal of such Court or 
officer ; and in case such acknowledgment is taken other than before a Court 
of Record, or Mayor, or chief officer of a town, having a seal, proof that the 
officer taking such acknowledgment was duly authorized by the laws of his 
country to do so, shall accompany the certificate of such acknowledgment. 
(R. S. 105, Sec. 16.) 

The officer taking the acknowledgment must certify, that the person offering 
to make such acknowledgment is personally known to him to be the real per- 
son whose name is subscribed to the deed as having executed the same, or that 
he was proved to be such by a credible witness (naming him). (R. S. 107, 
Sec. 20.) 

In case of married women, in addition to the above, he shall acquaint her 
with the contents of the deed, and shall examine her separately and apart 
from her husband, whether she executed the same, and relinquished her dower 
to the lands and tenements therein mentioned, voluntarily, freely, and without 
compulsion of her said husband, and shall certify the same on or annexed to 
the deed. (R. S., Sec. 17.) 

Recording of Deeds and Mortgages, and the effect thereof. 

All instruments relating to or affecting the title to real estate in this State, 
must be recorded in the county in which such real estate is situated. (R. S. 
108, Sec. 22.) 

All deeds, mortgages, and other instruments of writing, which are required 
to be recorded, shall take effect and be in force from and after the time of 
filing the same for record, and not before, as to all creditors and subsequent 
purchasers, without notice, and all such deeds and title papers shall be ad- 
judged void as to all such creditors and subsequent purchasers, without notice, 
until the same shall be filed for record. (R. S., Sec. 23.) 

All powers of attorney to convey lands are required to be recorded before 
any deed, executed under the authority contained in the power, goes upon 
record. (R. S., Sec. 24.) 



LAWS. 175 

The County Recorder,* biennially elected, commissioned by the Governor, 
and required to reside at the county seat, and to keep the books of record, is 
also required to give a receipt to the person bringing any deed or writing to 
be recorded, bearing date on the same day as the entry, and containing the 
abstract aforesaid, and for which entry and receipt he is entitled to no fees 
(R. S. 432, Sec. 7), but for the recording he is entitled to fifteen cents per 
hundred words, and twenty-five cents for a certificate, that the same has been 
recorded, (ft. S. 248, Sec. 23.) 

All conveyances acknowledged or proven in the State before any Judge, 
Justice of the Supreme or Circuit Court, or before any Court or officer, having 
a seal, and attested by such seal, are entitled to record without further attesta- 
tion. But when acknowledged or proven before a Justice of the Peace resi- 
ding within the State, the certificate of the Clerk of the County Commissioners' 
Court of the proper county, under his seal of office, that the person taking 
such proof or acknowledgment was a Justice of the Peace at the time of taking 
the same, must be produced to the Recorder; and when acknowledged or 
proved out of the State, before an officer other than Commissioner of this 
State residing there, the certificate of acknowledgment or proof must be ac- 
companied with a certificate of a Clerk of a Court of Record within the State, 
Territory, or District, where the acknowledging officer resides, under the hand 
of such clerk and the seal of his Court, setting forth that the deed or instru- 
ment is executed, acknowledged, or proved, in conformity with the laws of such 
State, Territory, or District. 

The conveyance, certificate of acknowledgment or proof, and the certificate 
of authentication, go upon record together, and for recording the whole thereof 
the Recorder is entitled to be paid. 

Satisfaction of mortgages may be entered upon record, by the mortgagees, 
in the Recorder's office, and the record will thereby be effectually cancelled. 
If not so done, the cancellation may be effected by the mortgagees signing and 
sealing, in the presence of an attesting witness, and acknowledging in form, 
satisfaction thereof in writing ; which instrument, on being produced to the 
Recorder, is sufficient authority for him to discharge the record. (R. S. 110, 
Sec. 37.) 

Wills or Real Estate. 

The Statutes of Illinois provide, that every person aged twenty-one years, 
if a male, or eighteen years, if a female, or upwards, and not married, being 
of sound mind and memory, shall have power to devise all the estate, right, 



* The Clerk of the Circuit Court is now Recorder of Deeds, and performs all the duties for- 
merly required to tie performed by the County Recorder, which office was abolished by act of 
the Legislature of 1849. (Laws of 1849, page 64, Sec. 12.) 



176 LAWS. 

title, and interest, in possession, reversion, or remainder, which he or she 
hath, or at the time of his or her death shall have, of, in, and to any lands, 
tenements, hereditaments, annuities, or rents charged upon or issuing out of 
them, or goods and chattels, or personal estate of every description whatso- 
ever, by will or testament ; all persons of the age of seventeen years, and of 
sound mind and memory (married women excepted), have power to dispose 
of their personal estate, by will or testament ; and married women have power 
to dispose of their separate estate, both real and personal, by will or testa- 
ment, in the same manner as other persons. (R. S. 536, Sec. 1.) 

"Wills, testaments, and codicils, by which any lands, tenements, heredita- 
ments, annuities, rents, or goods and chattels are devised, shall be reduced to 
writing, and signed by the testator or testatrix, or by some person in his or 
her presence, or by his or her direction, and attested in the presence of the 
testator or testatrix, by two or more credible witnesses. If the testator be 
unable to write, his mark affixed will suffice for a signature, if accompanied 
with the declaration, that the same is his mark ; if another write his name by 
his direction, the same must be done in his presence, otherwise such signature 
will be invalid. (R. S., Sec. 2.) 

"Wills may or may not contain a provision for the appointment of executors 
thereof. If they contain no appointment, the Court which admits them to 
probate has the power to supply the omission, by appointing an administrator, 
with the will annexed. 

In no case, where any testator or testatrix shall, by his or her will, appoint 
his or her debtor to be his or her executor or executrix, shall such appoint- 
ment operate as a release or extinguishment of any debt due from such exe- 
cutor or executrix to such testator or testatrix, unless the testator or testatrix 
shall, in such will, expressly declare his or her intention to devise or release 
such debt ; nor even in that case,-unless the estate of such testator or testatrix 
is sufficient to discharge the whole of his or her just debts, over and above the 
debt due from such executor or executrix. (R. S., Sec. 12.) 

If, after making a last will and testament, a child or children shall be born 
to any testator or testatrix, and no provision be made in such will for such 
child or children, the will shall not, on that account, be revoked, but unless it 
shall appear by such will, that it was the intention of the testator or testatrix 
to disinherit such child or children, the devises and legacies by such will 
granted and given shall be abated in equal proportions, to raise a portion for 
such child or children, equal to that which such child or children would have 
been entitled to receive out of the estate of such testator or testatrix, if he or 
she had died intestate. (R. S., Sec. 13.) 

"Whenever a devisee or legatee in any last will and testament, being a child 
or grandchild of the testator or testatrix, shall die before such testator or tes- 
tatrix, and no provision shall be made for such contingency, the issue of such 
devisee or legatee shall take the estate devised and bequeathed, and if there 



LAWS. 177 

foe no such issue at the time of the death of such testator or testatrix, the 
estate disposed of by such devise or legacy shah be considered and treated iu 
all respects as intestate estate. (E. S., Sec. 14.) 

Codicils must be executed in the same manner as mils, and no will, testa- 
ment, or codicil, shah be revoked otherwise than by burning, cancelling, tear- 
ing, or obliterating the same by the testator himself, or in his presence, by his 
direction or consent, or by some other will, testament, or codicil in writing, 
declaring the same, signed by the testator or testatrix, in the presence of two 
or more witnesses, and by them attested in his or her presence, and no words 
spoken shall revoke or annul any will, testament, or codicil in writing, executed 
as aforesaid, in due form of law. (E. S., Sec. 15.) 

Every devise of land or any estate therein, by a married man, shah bar his 
surviving widow's right of dower therein, unless otherwise expressed in the 
will, but she may elect whether she will take such devise or bequest, or whether 
she will renounce the benefit of such devise or bequest, and take her dower in 
the lands. And she will be deemed to have elected to such jointure or devise, 
unless within one year after the authentication or probate of the will, she shah 
deliver or transmit to the Court of Probate of the proper county, a written 
renunciation. (E. S. 199, Sec. 11.) 

The Probate and Recording or Wills. 

"When any will, testament, or codicil shah be exhibited in the Court of Pro- 
bate* for probate thereof, it shah be the duty of the court to receive the pro- 
bate of the same without delay, and to grant letters testamentary thereon to 
the person or persons entitled, and to do ah other needful acts to enable the 
parties concerned to make settlement of the estate at as early a day as shah 
be consistent with the rights of the respective persons interested therein: 
provided, however, that if any person interested shall within five years after 
the probate of any such will, testament, or codicil, in the Court of Probate as 
aforesaid, appear, and by his or her bill in chancery contest the validity of the 
same, an issue at law shah be made up, whether the writing produced be the 
will of the testator or testatrix or not ; which shall be tried by a jury, in the 
Circuit Court of the county wherein such will, testament, or codicil shall have 
been proved and recorded as aforesaid, according to the practice in courts of 



* The County Court is invested with all of the powers and jurisdiction formerly exercised by 
the Probate Court, which is now abolished. (Laws of 111., p. 65, Sec. 13.) 

The County Court was created by the same act by which the Probate Court was abolished 
and holds its sessions for the transaction of business at the Court-house, or usual place of 
holding courts in the several counties, on the first Monday of each month, except the months 
of December, March, June, and September, and on the third Mondays of said months, and 
continues open day by day, until all the business before it be disposed of. 



178 LAWS. 

chancery in similar cases ; but if no such person shall appear within the time 
aforesaid, the probate as aforesaid shall be forever binding and conclusive on all 
the parties concerned, saving to infants, femmes covert, persons not compos 
mentis or absent from the State, the like period after the removal of their 
respective disabilities. And in all such trials by jury, as aforesaid, the certi- 
ficate of the oaths of the witnesses at the time of the first probate shall be 
admitted as evidence, and to have such weight as the jury shall think it may 
deserve. (R. S., p. 537, Sec. 6.) 

On the probate of any will at least two credible attesting witnesses are 
required to be sworn and examined, and before the same can be admitted to 
record such witnesses must have declared, on oath or affirmation, that they 
were present and saw the testator or testatrix sign said will, testament, or 
codicil in their presence, and heard him or her acknowledge .the same to be his 
or her act and deed ; and they believed the testator or testatrix to be of sound 
mind and memory at the time of signing or acknowledging the same. (R. S., 
p. 536, Sec. 2.) 

It shall be the duty of each and every witness to any will, testament, or 
codicil, made and executed in this State as aforesaid, to be and appear before 
the Court of Probate on the regular day for probate of such will, testament, 
or codicil, to testify of and concerning the execution and validity of the same, 
and the said Court of Probate shall have power and authority to attach and 
punish by fine and imprisonment, or either, any witness who shall, without a 
reasonable excuse, fail to appear when duly summoned for the purpose afore- 
said ; provided the said punishment by imprisonment shall in no case exceed 
the space of twenty days, nor shall a greater fine be assessed for any such 
default than the sum of fifty dollars. 

When any will, testament, or codicil shall be produced to the Court of Pro- 
bate for probate of the same, and any witness attesting such will, testament, 
or codicil shall reside without the limits of this State, it shall be lawful for the 
Probate Justice to issue a dedimus potestatem, or commission annexed to such 
will, testament, or codicil, directed to some judge, justice of the peace, mayor, 
or other chief magistrate of the city, town, or corporation, or county where 
such witness may be found, authorizing the taking and certifying of his or 
her attestation in due form of law. And if the person to whom any such com- 
mission shall be directed, shall certify in the manner that such acts are usually 
authenticated, that the witness personally appeared before him and made oath 
or affirmation that the testator or testatrix signed and published the writing 
annexed to such commission as his or her last will and testament ; or, that 
some other person signed it by his or her direction, that he or she subscribed 
his or her name as a witness thereto in the presence of the testator or testa- 
trix, and at his or her request : such oath or affirmation shall have the same 
operation, and the will shall be admitted to probate in like manner, as if such 



LAWS. 179 

oath or affirmation had been made in the Court of Probate from whence such 
commission issued. (R. S., p. 537, Sec. 4.) 

Any will, testament, and codicil, or authenticated copies thereof, proven 
according to the laws of any of the United States or Territories thereof, or of 
any country out of the limits of the United States, and touching or concerning 
estates within this State, accompanied with a certificate of the proper officer 
or officers that such will, testament, codicil, or copy thereof, was duly executed 
and proved agreeebly to the laws and usages of that State or country in which 
the same was executed, shall be recorded as aforesaid, and shall be good and 
available in law, in like manner as wills made and executed in this State. 
(R. S., p. 538, Sec. 8.) 

Form of Attestation. 

Signed, sealed, published, and declared, by the said John Warren, as and 
for his last will and testament, in the presence of us, who, at the request of 
the said John Warren, and in his presence, and in the presence of each other, 
have hereunto subscribed our names, and respective places of residence, as 
witnesses. 

{Names.) {Residences.) 

JOHN WALTER, 

JOHN GRIFFITH, 

Title to Real Estate by Inheritance. 

The Statutes provide that the estates, both real and personal, of resident or 
non-resident proprietors dying intestate, or whose estates or any part thereof 
shall be deemed and taken as intestate estate, and after all just debts and 
claims against such estates shall be paid as aforesaid, shall descend to and be 
distributed to his or her children and their descendants in equal parts : the 
descendants of a deceased child or grandchild taking the share of their 
deceased parent in equal parts among them; and when there shall be no 
children of the intestate, nor descendants of such children, and no widows, 
then to the parents, brothers and sisters of the deceased person and their 
descendants in equal parts among them, allowing to each of the parents, if 
living, a child's part, or to the survivor of them, if one be dead, a double por- 
tion ; and if there be no parent living, then to the brothers and sisters of the 
intestate and their descendants. When there shall be a widow and no child 
or children, or descendants of a child or children of the intestate, then the 
one-half of the real estate and the whole of the personal estate shall go to such 
widow as her exclusive estate forever, subject to her absolute disposition and 
control, to be governed in all respects by the same rules and regulations as 
are or may be provided in case of estates of femme sole : if there be no chil- 
dren of the intestate, or descendants of such children, and no parents, brothers or 
sisters, or descendants of brothers and sisters, and no widow, then such estate 



180 LAWS. 

shall descend in equal parts to the next of kin to the intestate in equal degree, 
computing by the rules of the civil law ; and there shall be no representation 
among collaterals, except with the descendants of the brothers and sisters of 
the intestate ; and in no case shall there be a distinction between the kindred 
of the whole and the half blood : saving to the widow in all cases her dower, 
as provided by law. (R. S., p. 545, Sec. 46.) 

When any femme covert shall die intestate, leaving no child or children, or 
descendants of a child or children, then the one-half of the real estate of the 
decedent shall descend and go to her husband, as his exclusive estate forever. 
(R. S., p. 546, Sec. 47.) 

Upon the decease of any alien, having title to or interest in any lands or 
tenements, such lands and tenements shall pass and descend in the same 
manner as if such alien were a citizen of the United States : and it shall 
be no objection to any person having an interest in such estate, that they are 
not citizens of the United States, but all such persons shall have the same 
rights and remedies, and in ah things be placed on the same footing as natural 
born citizens and actual residents of the United States. (R. S., p. 48, 
Sec. 1.) . 

It is further provided, that if any person shall die seized of any real estate, 
without having devised the same, and leaving no heirs or representatives 
capable of inheriting the same, or the devisees thereof capable of holding 
the same, such estate shall escheat to and vest in the State. (R. S., p. 225, 
Sec. 1.) 

The Levy and Collection of Land Taxes. 

All real estate within the State is liable to taxation, except such as belongs 
to the State or to the United States ; lands sold by the United States within the 
preceding five years ; lands belonging to township school-funds ; lands whereon 
any school-house, court-house, or jail, shall have been erected ; lands not ex- 
ceeding five acres, whereon any county buildings are situated ; not exceeding 
ten acres, whereon any church shall have been erected ; burial grounds, not 
exceeding ten acres, and grounds on which any building belonging to any 
literary, religious, benevolent, charitable, or scientific institution, shall be 
situated, not exceeding ten acres. 

The Statutes invest the County Commissioners' Court with the power to 
levy taxes in their respective counties for county purposes, under the restric- 
tions that they shall not, unless specially authorized by law, levy a tax that 
shall exceed four mills on each dollar's worth of property. 

The Treasurer, in the capacity of Assessor, upon the receipt of such tran- 
script and list, is required to prepare a list of all taxable property within his 
county, and to proceed to assess the value thereof by going to the place of 
residence of such owner of taxable property within his county. And if he 
shall deem it necessary, he may require every owner of taxable property " to 



LAWS. 181 

give in under oath, either by himself or agent, a list and description of all his 
taxable lands, by townships, ranges, quarter sections^ tracts, lots, or parts 
thereof, and the number in each tract, with the improvements thereon ; all 
town lots, with the improvements thereon; all pleasure carriages, whether 
with two or four wheels; all horses, mares, jacks, jennies, mules, indentured 
servants, neat cattle, ships and vessels, stocks, money on hand and at interest, 
household furniture, and every other description of personal property ; all capital 
employed each year in merchandising, adopting as a criterion the value of the 
greatest amount of goods on hand at any time in the year: and he (the As- 
sessor) shall, in the presence of such person, enter the same in his book, and 
value each tract or lot separately, and each species of personal property sepa- 
rately, placing the description and value in figures opposite the name of the 
person owning qr listing the same ; provided, that unimproved town-lots may 
be listed and assessed in blocks. (E. S., p. 439, Sec. 16.) 

The minimum value of all lands in this State, for the purposes of taxation, 
is three dollars per acre. 

If any Assessor shall be unable to find the owner of any lands or lots con- 
tained in-- his list, he shall value the same according to the best information he 
san procure, and enter the same on his list in the name of the patentee or 
present owner, if known. (R. S., p. 440, Sec. 17.) 

If any person shall give a false or fraudulent list, or refuse to deliver to the 
Assessor, when called on for that purpose, a list of his or her taxable property 
as required by law, the said Assessor, as a penalty therefor, shall assess the 
property of such person at double its value. (R. S., Sec. 18.) 

Lands and town lots owned by non-residents of the country, when once 
correctly listed for taxation by their owners, shall not be required to be listed 
again by them, till a subdivion or change of ownership takes place. (R. S. 
Sec. 20.) 

Any person feeling himself aggrieved by the assessment of his property 
must apply to the County Commissioners' Court, at the September term thereof 
next succeeding the assessment; and if it shall be made to appear by credible 
proof, that the valuation of the Assessor was too high, such court in its dis- 
cretion may order a reduction ; but if he does not apply at the said term, he 
will be concluded by the assessment as made by the Assessor. 

The Sheriff of each county in Illinois is ex officio Collector of Taxes levied 
therein. After having given a bond to the people of the State for the faithful 
performance of his duty as Collector of Taxes, it is his duty to receive from 
the County Commissioners' Clerk the assessed list, and to proceed to collect 
the taxes charged on said fist by calling on each person residing In his county, 
at his or her usual place of residence, and requiring payment thereof. 

Upon the receipt of the list by the Sheriff, a lien upon the property assessed 
attaches for the tax, and no sale or transfer of the same after that time can 
defeat or affect such lien. The property may be seized by the Collector, and 
16 



182 LAWS. 

by him sold to discharge the taxes and the costs and expenses of collection. 
(R. S., Sec. 33.) 

The statute further provides, that in case any person shall refuse or neglect 
to pay his or her taxes when demanded, or within ten days thereafter, it shall 
be the duty of the Collector to levy the same, together with the costs and 
charges that may accrue, by distress and sale of the personal property of such 
person as ought to pay the same, wherever the same may be found in the 
county. No real estate can be legally sold for taxes whilst personal property 
can be found by the Collector. But no sale is valid, unless by advertisement 
posted in at least three public places in the precinct where such sale shall take 
place, at least ten days previous to the day of sale, the Collector shall have 
notified the public of the time and place thereof and the property to be sold. 
(R. S., Sec. 35, 36.) 

The sale is required to be at public auction, and if practicable no more 
property than is sufficient to pay the tax, costs, and charges due, should be 
sold. " Land shall, if convenient, be sold in parcels, and if sold for more than 
the amount of the tax, costs, and charges, the surplus shall be returned to the 
owner of such property." (R. S., Sec. 37.) 

State taxes are required to be collected in gold and silver coin and Auditor's 
warrants, and county taxes in gold and silver coin, Auditor's warrants, or 
jury certificates. 

The statute further provides, that when any person owning lands in any 
county shall fail to pay the taxes assessed thereon, and the Collector shall be 
unable to find any personal property of such person in his county whereon to 
levy, of a value sufficient to pay the taxes and costs, it is made the duty of the 
Collector to make report thereof to the Circuit Court of his county, at the first 
term thereof in each year. (R. S., p. 444, Sec. 46.) 

At least six weeks' notice of such report and application, however, is neces- 
cessary to be published in some newspaper printed in the said county, if any 
such there be, or if there be none, then in the nearest newspaper in the State ; 
which notice is required to contain the names of the owner or owners, if known, 
the amount of the delinquent tax, interest, and costs due thereon, and the year 
or years for which the same are due ; and to mention his intended application 
to the court for judgment against said lands, and for an order to sell the same 
for the satisfaction of such taxes, interest, and costs ; and that on the fourth 
Tuesday next succeeding the day fixed by law for the commencement of the 
said term of the said Circuit Court, all the lands against which judgment shall 
be pronounced, and for the sale of which such order is required to be made, 
will be exposed to public sale, at the Court-house of the said county, for 
the amount of said taxes, interest, and costs due thereon. (R. S., Sec. 
47.) 

Such Circuit Court, at the term aforesaid, is required to call the docket of 
such cases, and if upon such calling any defence be offered by any of the 



LAWS. 183 

owners of lands delinquent and reported, or by any person having a claim or 
interest therein, it shah hear and determine the same in a summary way, 
without pleadings ; and if no defence be made, to pronounce judgment against 
the said lands, and direct the Clerk to issue an order for their sale. (R. S., 
p. 445, Sec. 58.) 

On the day specified in the Collector's notice, it is the duty of that officer to 
attend at the Court-house in his county, and then and there, at the hour of 
ten o'clock in the forenoon, to proceed to offer for sale, separately, each tract 
of land in the said list on which the taxes and costs have not then been paid, 
and the person offering to pay the taxes and costs for the least quantity of 
land becomes the purchaser of such quantity, to be taken from the east side 
of the tract. (R. S., Sec. 51.) 

Any person or persons owning or claiming lands advertised for sale as afore- 
said, may pay the taxes, interest, and costs due thereon, to the collector of the 
county in which the same are situated, at any time before the sale thereof. 
(R. S. 446, Sec. 61.) 

When purchasers fail to pay the taxes assessed on lands designated and 
known as Illinois and Michigan Canal lands, sold upon a credit, it is the duty 
of the collector to report such failure to the acting commissioner of the said 
canal, and thenceforth all right, interest, and title of the said purchaser ceases, 
and said lands are not permitted, in any case, to be sold for the non-payment 
of taxes, and any sale, if made, is declared to be absolutely void. (R. S. 450, 
Sec. 94.) 

If taxes assessed upon property as aforesaid shall not be paid according to 
law, and it shall be necessary to sell the same for taxes, such sales shall extend 
to the interest paid and all improvements thereon, the simple title to said pro- 
perty still remaining in the State. (R. S. 590, Sec. 2.) 

Every tract of land offered for sale by any collector, as hereinbefore provided, 
and not sold for want of bidders, is considered as forfeit to the people, and the 
claims thereto of the former owner or owners utterly transferred to and vested 
in the State of Illinois ; yet lands thus forfeited may be redeemed at any time 
within two years, by paying to the Clerk of the County Commissioners' Court 
of the county in which said lands may be situated, double the amount for 
which such real estate was forfeited, and all taxes accruing thereon to the time 
of redemption, with interest on each year's tax at the rate of six per cent. 
from the first Monday of May in each year to the time of redemption. Infants, 
femmes covert, and lunatics, may redeem at any time within one year after 
the removal of such disability or disabilities. (R. S. 449, Sec. 78.) 

Concerning these lands, it is provided, that every two years from the first 
Monday of September, eighteen hundred and forty-five, the Clerks of the 
County Commissioners' Courts of the several counties, respectively, shall cause 
them to be sold at public auction. When any sale of any lot thus forfeited 
shall be effected, it is the duty of such clerk to deliver to the purchaser a cer- 



184 LAWS. 

tificate of purchase, which, on being presented to the auditor, entitles the 
holder thereof to a deed, conveying all the right, title, interest, and claim of 
the State, to the tracts or lots described in said certificate. (R. S. 450, Sec. 
87.) 

Land Tax, Forfeitures, and Redemptions. 

The Statute provides, that real estate sold for delinquent taxes may be re- 
deemed at any time before the expiration of two years from the date of sale, 
by the payment, in specie, to the Clerk of the County Commissioners' Court 
of the proper county, of double the amount for which the same was sold, and 
all taxes accruing after such sale, unless such subsequent taxes have been 
paid to the collector, as may be shown by the collector's receipt, by the person 
redeeming, with six per cent, interest thereon from the first day of May in 
each year up to the time of payment ; provided, that if the real estate of any 
infant, femme covert, or lunatic, be sold for taxes, the same may be redeemed 
at any time within one year after such disability shall be removed, upon the 
terms specified in this section. (R. S. 447, Sec. 69.) 

At any time after the expiration of two years from the sale of any real 
estate for taxes, if the same shall not have been redeemed, the collector, on 
request, and on the production of the certificate of purchase, shall execute 
and deliver to the purchaser, his heirs or assigns, a deed of conveyance for the 
real estate described in such certificate. (R. S., Sec. 71.) 

The deed so made by the collector shall be acknowledged and recorded in 
the same manner as other conveyances of real estate, and shall vest in the 
grantee, his heirs or assigns, the title of the property therein described. (R. 
S., Sec. 72.) 

Where purchasers of land sold for taxes shall neglect to pay the taxes 
thereon, and such land shall be again sold for taxes before the expiration of 
two years from the date of his or her purchase, such purchaser is not entitled 
to a deed for the land until the expiration of two years from the date of the 
second sale, during which time the land is subject to redemption upon the 
usual terms, except that the person redeeming is only required to pay for the 
use of such purchaser, the amount paid for the land, and double the amount 
paid by the second purchaser. (R. S. 451, Sec. 97.) 

Limitation op Actions. 

All actions of trespass quare clausum fregit, trespass detinue, trover, and 
replevin, for taking away goods and chattels, all actions for arrearages of rent 
due on a parole demise, and all actions of account and upon the case, except 
actions for slander and malicious prosecution, and such as concern the trade 
of merchandise between merchant and merchant, their factors or agents, shall 
be commenced within five years next after the cause of action accrued. 






LAWS. 185 

Actions of trespass for assault, "battery, wounding, and imprisonment, shall 
be commenced -within two years next after the cause of action accrued. 

Actions on the case for words shall be commenced within one year, and for 
malicious prosecution shall be commenced within two years. 

Every action of debt, or covenant for rent, or arrearages of rent, founded 
upon any lease under seal, and of debt or covenant, founded upon any single 
or penal bill, promissory note, or writing obligatory for the direct payment of 
money, or the delivery of property, or the performance of covenants, or upon 
any award under the hands and seals of arbitrators for the payment of money 
only, shall be commenced within sixteen years after the cause of action ac- 
crued, and when any payment has been made upon such instrument, then 
within sixteen years from the time of such payment. 

Judgments of any Court of Record of the State may be revived by action 
of scire facias, or action of debt, within twenty years after the rendition of the 
same. 

Pdght of entry and actions to recover lands are barred by the lapse of twenty 
years. 

Infants, married women, persons insane and absent from this State, may 
make such entry and bring such actions within the times respectively limited, 
after the removal of their disability. 

The absence of a defendant from the State is not to be computed in the 
limitation. 

Limitation of Actions for the Recovery of Real Estate. 

The Statutes provide, 'that no person having any right of entry into any 
lands, tenements, or hereditaments, shah make an entry therein but within 
twenty years after such right shall have accrued, and that such person shall 
be barred from any entry afterwards. (R. S. 349, Sec. 6.) 

That every real, possessory, ancestral, or mixed action, or writ of right, 
brought for the recovery of any lands, tenements, or hereditaments, shall be 
brought within twenty years next after the right or title thereto, or cause of 
such action accrued, and not after. (R. S., Sec. 7.) 

_That every real, possessory, ancestral, or mixed action, or writ of right, 
brought for the recovery of any lands, tenements, or hereditaments, of which 
any person may be possessed by actual residence thereon, having a connected 
title in law or equity cleducible of record, from this State or the United States, 
or from any public officer or other person authorized by the laws of this State 
to sell such land for the nonpayment of taxes, or from any sheriff, marshal, or 
other person authorized to sell such land on execution, or under any order, 
judgment, or decree of any Court of Record, shall be brought within seven 
years next after possession being taken as aforesaid, but when the possessor 
shall acquire such title after taking such possession, the limitation shall begin 
to run from the time of acquiring title. (R. S., Sec. 8.) 

16* 



186 LAWS. 

But possession to bar such rights, actions, and suits, must have been con- 
tinued in manner aforesaid for the term of seven years next preceding the time 
of asserting the right of entry, or the commencement of any suit or action. 
(R. S., Sec. 9.) 

No person who has, or may have, any right of entry into any lands, tene- 
ments, or hereditaments, of which any person may be possessed by actual 
residence thereon, having a connected title in law or equity deducible of record 
from this State or the United States, or from any public officer or other person 
authorized by the laws of this State to sell such lands for the nonpayment of 
taxes, or from any sheriff, marshal, or other person authorized to sell such 
land on execution, or under any order, judgment, or decree of any Court of 
Record, shall make any entry therein, except within seven years from the time 
of such possession being taken ; but when the possessor shall acquire such 
title after the time of taking such possession, the limitation shall begin to run 
from the time of acquiring title, i 

In all the foregoing cases, in which the person or persons who shall have any 
right of entry, title, or cause of action, shall be, at the time of such right of 
entry, title, or cause of action, under the age of twenty-one years, insane, or 
femme covert, such person or persons may make such entry, or institute such 
action, so that the same may be done within such time as is within the time 
limited, after his or her becoming of full age, sane, or femme sole. 

Exemptions. 

The necessary wearing apparel of every person shall be exempt from sale on 
execution, writ of attachment, or distress for rent. 

The following property, when owned by any person being the head of a 
family and residing with the same, shall be exempt from levy and sale on any 
execution, writ of attachment, or distress for rent, and such articles of property 
shall continue so exempt while the family of such person, or any of them, are 
removing from one place of residence to another in this State, viz. : 

1. Necessary beds, bedsteads, and bedding, the necessary utensils for cook- 
ing, necessary household furniture, not exceeding in value fifteen dollars, one 
pair of cards, two spinning wheels, one weaving loom and appendage, one 
stove, and the necessary pipe therefor, being in use, or put up for ready use, 
in any house occupied by such family. 

2. One milch cow and calf, two sheep for each member of the family, and 
the fleeces of two sheep for each member of the family, which may have been 
purchased by any debtor not owning sheep, and the yarn and cloth that may 
be manufactured from the same, and sixty dollars' worth of property suited to 
his or her condition or occupation in life, to be selected by the debtor. 

3. The necessary provisions and fuel for the use of the family for three 
months, and necessary food for the stock hereinbefore exempted from sale, or 
that may be held under the provisions of this act. 






LAWS. 187 

When any lot not exceeding ten acres shall be appropriated and used as a 
burying ground, and shall be recorded as such in the Recorder's office of the 
county, it shall be exempt from all taxes, and when sold in lots for burying 
the dead, the said lots shall not be subject to execution or attachment; pro- 
vided, that no person shall hold more than one-eighth of an acre exempt from 
execution. 

When, in any case, the head of a family dies, deserts, or ceases to reside 
with the same, the said family shall be entitled to retain the property above 
exempted free from levy and sale on execution. 

In cases of fines for assault, assault and battery, and frays, the property 
of the party, having a family, reserved from execution, is one bed and bedding, 
one cow, and ten dollars' worth of household kitchen furniture. 

Homestead Exemption. 

In addition to the property now exempt by law from sale under execution, 
there shall be exempt from levy and forced sale, under the process or order 
from any court of law or equity in this State, for debts contracted from and 
after the fourth day of July, 1851, the lot of ground and the buildings thereon, 
occupied as a residence and owned by the debtor, being a householder and 
having a family, to the value of one thousand dollars. Such exemption shall 
continue after the death of such householder for the benefit of the widow and 
family, some or one of them continuing to occupy such homestead until the 
youngest child shall become twenty-one years of age, and until the death of 
such widow, and no release or waiver of such exemption shall be valid, unless 
the same shall be in writing, subscribed by such householder, and acknow- 
ledged in the same manner as conveyances of real estate are by law required 
to be acknowledged. 

No property shall, by virtue of this act, be exempt from sale for nonpayment 
of taxes on assessments, or for a debt or liability incurred for the purchase or 
improvement thereof, or prior to the recording of the aforesaid conveyance or 
notice. 

If, in the opinion of the creditors or officer holding an execution against 
such householder, the premises claimed by him or her as exempt, are worth 
more than one thousand dollars, such officer shall summon six qualified jurors 
of his county, who shall, upon oath, to be administered to them by the officer, 
appraise said premises, and if, in their opinion, the property may be divided 
without injury to the parties, they shall set off so much of said premises, in- 
cluding the dwelling-house, as in their opinion shall be worth one thousand 
dollars, and the residue of said premises be advertised and sold by such officer. 

In case such surplus, or the amount due on said execution, shall not be paid 
within the said sixty days, it shall be lawful for the officer to advertise and 
sell the said premises, and out of the proceeds of such sale to pay to such exe- 
cution debtor the said sum of one thousand dollars, which shall be exempt 



188 LAWS. 

from execution for one year thereafter, and apply the balance on such execu- 
tion ; provided, that no sale shall be made unless a greater sum than one thou- 
sand dollars shall be bid therefor, in which case the officer may return the 
execution for want of property. 

The costs and expenses of setting ofF such property, as provided herein, 
shall be charged and included in the officer's bill of costs upon such execution. 

Lien Law. 

Boats and vessels of all descriptions, built, repaired, or equipped, or running 
upon any of the navigable waters within the jurisdiction of this State, shall be 
liable for all debts contracted by the owner or owners, masters, supercargoes, 
or consignees thereof, on account of all work done, supplies or materials fur- 
nished by mechanics, tradesmen, and others, for or on account of the building, 
repairing, furnishing or equipping such boats and vessels, and such debts shall 
have the preference of all other debts due from the owners or proprietors, ex- 
cept the wages of mariners, boatmen, and others, employed in the service of 
such boat and vessels, which shall be first paid. 

All engineers, pilots, mariners, boatmen, and others, employed in any capa- 
city in or about the service of any such boat or vessel, who may be entitled to 
arrearages of wages in consequence of such service, shall have a hen as above. 
No creditor shall be allowed to enforce the lien created as specified, unless 
such lien be enforced within three months after the indebtedness accrues. 

All judgments rendered in any court of record for any debt, or damages, 
costs, or other sum of money, shall cease to be a lien upon the lands, tene- 
ments, and real estate of the persons against whom it is rendered, after the 
lapse of seven years. 

The time during which any person in whose favor any such judgment shall 
have been entered, shall be restrained by injunction out of chancery, or order 
of any judge or court, from issuing execution or selling thereon, shall not be 
deemed as part of the seven years. 

Every landlord shall have a hen upon the crops growing or grown upon de- 
mised premises, in any year, for rent that shall accrue for such year. 

Any person who shall furnish labor or materials toward the erecting or re- 
pairing any building, or the appurtenances of any building, shall have a lien 
upon the same, and upon the land on which such building stands, for the 
amount due him for such labor or materials, whether the kind or quantity of 
work or amount to be paid be specified or not, provided the time of completing 
the contract be not extended beyond the period of three years, nor the time 
of payment beyond the period of one year from the time stipulated for the 
completion thereof. 

Persons furnishing labor or materials in repairing or erecting any building, 
in order to enforce their lien as above stated, must bring suit within six 
months from the time that the last payment should have been made. 



LAWS. 189 

Chattel Mortgages. 

No mortgage on personal property hereafter executed shall be valid as 
against the rights and interests of third persons, unless possession of the pro- 
perty shall be delivered to and remain with the mortgagee, or the said mort- 
gage be acknowledged and recorded in the office of the recorder of the county 
in which the mortgagor shall reside. 

Any mortgagor must first acknowledge before any justice of the peace, in 
the justice's district in which he may reside, such mortgage, and the said 
justice must certify to such acknowledgement, and enter the same upon his 
docket. 

It shall then be valid for two years, provided that such mortgage shall pro- 
vide for the possession of the property so to remain with the mortgagor. 

Contracts. 

No action shall be brought whereby to charge any executor or administrator 
upon any special promise to answer any debt or damages out of his own 
estate, or whereby to charge the defendant upon any special promise to answer 
for the debt, default, or miscarriage of another person, or to charge any per- 
son upon any agreement made upon any consideration of marriage, or upon 
any contract for the sale of lands, tenements, or hereditaments, or any interest 
in or concerning them for a longer term than one year, or upon any agreement 
that is not to be performed within the space of one year from the making 
thereof, unless the promise or agreement upon which such action shall be 
brought, or some memorandum or note thereof, shall be in writing, and signed 
by the party to be charged therewith, or some other person thereunto by him 
lawfully authorized. 

Collection of Debts. 

Arrest. 

When any debtor shall refuse to surrender his estate, lands, goods, or chat- 
tels, for the satisfaction of any execution which may be issued against the pro- 
perty of any such debtor, it shall and may be lawful for the plaintiff or his 
attorney or agent to make affidavit of such fact before any justice of the peace 
of the county, and upon filing such affidavit with the clerk of the court from 
which the execution issued, or with the justice of the peace who issued such 
execution, it shall be lawful for such clerk or justice of the peace, as the case 
may be, to issue a capias ad satisfaciendum against the body of such defendant 
in execution. 

In all actions to be commenced in any court of record in the state, 
founded on any specialty, judgment, or contract, in which the plaintiff or other 
credible person can ascertain the sum due or damages sustained, and will 



190 LAWS. 

make affidavit before the clerk of the court from which process issues, or a 
justice of the peace, or if the plaintiff resides out of the state, before any per- 
son who may be authorized to administer an oath in the state or kingdom in 
which he resides, that the same is in danger of being lost, or that the benefit 
of any judgment which may be rendered will be lost, unless the defendant be 
held to bail, and such affidavit be delivered to the clerk of the court, the clerk 
must issue a writ against the body of the defendant, with directions to the 
sheriff endorsed to take bail. 

When damages are unliquidated, the affidavit must state facts, and the 
nature and cause of action, and the clerk must fix the amount of bail. 

When any person is arrested for debt on execution, or on original process, 
for the purpose of being held to bail, it is the duty of the officer having the 
custody of the debtor, at his request, to convey him before the judge of the 
county in which ihe arrest is made. The county judge must require of the 
debtor a complete schedule of his property, of whatever description, with an 
account of the debts owing by the debtor at the time. The debtor may then 
take the oath prescribed by statute, and if no fraud appears upon examination 
of the debtor, or of the witnesses produced, and the debtor assign the property 
named in the schedule, not exempt, and produce the receipt of the assignee to 
the court, he is discharged. 

The plaintiff in execution may, after the defendant has taken the oath pre- 
scribed, pay the sheriff the jail fees on the Monday of each week, and keep 
the defendant in jail until the debt is paid, at the rate of one dollar and fifty 
cents per day, upon the happening of which event the sheriff returns the exe- 
tion satisfied by imprisonment. 

Attachment. 

If any creditor or his agent shall make complaint, on oath or affirmation, to the 
clerk of the Circuit Court of any county in this state, that his debtor is about 
to depart from this state, or has departed from this state, with the intention, 
in either case, of having his effects and personal estate removed without the 
limits of this state, to the injury of such creditor, or stands in defiance of any 
officer to arrest him on civil process, so that the ordinary process of law can 
not be served on such debtor, and that the debtor is indebted to him in a sum 
exceeding twenty dollars, specifying the amount and nature of such indebted- 
ness, such creditor may sue out a writ of attachment against the debtor's 
lands and tenements, goods and chattels, rights and credits, moneys and effects, 
of what nature soever, or so much as will satisfy the debt sworn to, with in- 
terest and costs. 

When any creditor, his agent or attorney, shall make oath or affirmation 
before any justice of the peace in the state, that any person being a non- 
resident of this state is indebted to such creditor in a sum not exceeding fifty 
dollars, such justice may issue an attachment against his personal estate. 



LAWS. 191 

Attachment may issue in the case of a non-resident against all his property, 
for a sum exceeding twenty dollars, from the clerk of the Circuit Court of any 
county. 

Imprisonment for debt is forbidden by the Constitution, except in case of 
the debtor's refusal to deliver up his estate for the benefit of creditors, as pre- 
scribed by law, or when there is strong evidence of intentional fraud.- 

Rate of Interest. 

From and after January 80, 1849, money may be loaned at such rate of 
interest, not exceeding ten per cent, per annum on each hundred dollars, as 
the parties may agree upon. In* the trial of any action brought upon a promis- 
sory note or writing obligatory, in any of the courts of this state, wherein is 
reserved a higher rate of interest than six per cent, per annum, it shall be 
lawful for the defendant to set up and plead, as a defence in any such suit, 
that the consideration of said note or writing obligatory, upon which such suit 
is brought, was not "money loaned" ; upon which issue it shall be lawful for 
the debtor, the creditor being alive, to become a witness, and his testimony 
shall be received as evidence ; and the creditor, if he shall offer his testimony, 
shall be received as a witness, together with any other legal evidence that may 
be introduced by either party ; and if upon the trial of the said issue it shall 
be found that the said note or writing obligatory, upon which such suit is 
brought, was not given for money loaned, then the said court shall render 
judgment for the principal sum in said promissory note or writing obligatory, 
and six per cent interest thereon. 

Landlord and Tenant. 

Tenants who hold over after the expiration of their term, and after demand 
made and notice in writing given for the possession thereof, by the landlord, 
must pay at the rate of double the yearly value of the land for the time such 
landlord is so kept out of possession. 

Every tenant, who shall be sued in ejectment by any person other than his 
landlord, shall forthwith give notice thereof to his landlord or his attorney, 
under the penalty of forfeiting two years' rent of the premises in question. 

In all cases of distress for rent, the landlord may by himself, or his attorney, 
seize for rent any personal property of his tenant, that may be found in the 
county where such tenant shall reside, and in no case shall the property of any 
other person, though the same shall be found on the premises, be liable to 
seizure for rent due from such tenant. 

The person making the distress shall immediately file with some justice of 
the peace, in case the amount claimed does not exceed one hundred dollars, or 
with the clerk of the Circuit Court in case it exceeds that sum, a copy of the 
distress warrant, together with the inventory of the property levied upon, and 



192 LAWS. 

thereupon the tenant shall he summoned, and the amount due from him as- 
sessed and entered upon the records of the Court. The Court shall certify to 
the person or officer making the distress, the amount found due, together with 
the costs of the Court, and the officer shall proceed to sell the property dis- 
trained, and return the certificate, with an endorsement thereon of his pro- 
ceedings, which return and certificate shall be filed in the proper court. 

If the tenant does not, within five days after notice of such distress and the 
cause of taking, replevy the goods so taken, the person distraining may, with 
the sheriff or constable of the county, cause the goods to be appraised by two 
reputable freeholders under oath, and the landlord may then sell the goods at 
public auction, on giving ten days' notice. 

The landlord has a lien upon the growing cfr grown crops for rent that shall 
accrue during the year of their growth. 

If any person makes an illegal or forcible entry into lands, or holds over 
after the expiration of the time for which such lands were let to him, after 
demand made in writing for possession thereof, such person shall be adjudged 
guilty of a forcible entry and detinue, and may be removed from such pos- 
session by an action before a justice of the peace. 

Form of Demand for Possession. 

To A. B., of M., in the County of H. 

Take notice, that you are hereby required to quit, and deliver up to me, on 
the day of next (or immediately), the possession of 

the dwelling house (or rooms and apartments, or lands and premises), with the 
appurtenances, which you now hold or claim to hold of me, situate in M., in 
the County of H., known as No. 12, on E. street. 

May 4th, 185 . J. L. 

Affidavit of Service {written on a copy). 

I certify, that on the day of , 185 , I gave to A, 

B. above named (or left at the usual place of abode of A. B. above named), an 
original notice, of which the within is a true copy. 

H., May 4th, 185 . [Seal.] 

Personally appeared T. W., and made oath, that the above affidavit, by him 
subscribed, is true. 

Before me, N. M., Justice of the Peace. 

Warrant to Distrain. 
To C. B. 

I hereby authorize and require you to distrain the goods and chattels in the 
dwelling house (or rooms and apartments, or on the lands and premises) now 
in the possession of A. B., situate in M., in the County of A., known as No 



LAWS. 193 

12, on E. street, for six months' rent, due to me under a lease of the same, 
and to proceed thereon for the recovery of the said rent, as the law directs. 

Witness my hand, this day of , 185 . 

E. F. 

[Note. — This warrant may be addressed to any agent or attorney of the 
landlord.] 

.Notice to Tenant of Distress for Rent. 
To A. B. 

Take notice, that by the authority and on behalf of your landlord, E. F., I 
have this day distrained the several goods and chattels specified in the inven- 
tory hereto attached, in your house, in M., in the County of H., known as No. 
12, on E. street, for eighty dollars arrearages of rent due to him, the said E. 
F. Now, therefore, if you do not pay the rent so due, or replevy the said 
goods and chattels according to law, within five days from the date hereafter, 
I shall cause the said goods and chattels to be appraised and sold, according to 
the statute in such case made and provided. 

May 10th, 185 . C. D. 

[Note. — The inventory must be attached to the foregoing, and left with the 
tenant, in presence of some one, who should certify to that fact.] 

Promissory Notes and Bills op Exchange. 

Foreign bills of exchange, expressed that the value has been received, pro- 
tested for non-acceptance, or non-payment, are entitled to ten per cent, 
damages, together with legal interest and costs, and charges of protest. 

A foreign bill is one drawn on a party out of the United States. 

When an inland bill of exchange, expressed that the value has been receivea, 
is protested for non-acceptance or non-payment, the drawer or endorser shall 
pay legal interest from the time such bill ought to have been paid, and five 
per cent, damages, together with costs and charges of protest. 

All promissory notes, bonds, due bills, and other instruments in writing, for 
the payment of money or articles of personal property, are assignable by 
endorsement, in the same manner as bills of exchange, so as absolutely to vest 
the property thereof in the assignee. 

The assignee cannot sue the assignor on such endorsement, until he has 
r first instituted and prosecuted a suit against the maker of such note, bond, 
&c, for the recovery of the money due thereon ; provided, that if the institu- 
tion of such suit would have been unavailing, or the maker had absconded or 
left the State when such note became due, such assignee may at once sue on 
the endorsement. < 

Apprentices. 
All children under the age of fourteen years may be bound without their 
consent, and all minors above that age with their consent, males until they are 

17 N 



194 LAWS. 

twenty-one, and females until they are eighteen. Such minors may be hound 
with the consent of the father, or if he be incompetent, then with the consent 
of the mother, or if she be incompetent, then with that of the guardian of the 
minor, or if there be no guardian, then with the approbation of the Judge of 
the County Court, or by any two justices of the peace of the county in which 
such minor resides, endorsed on the indenture. 

The fact of such incompetence to consent shall be tried and found by a jury 
in the County Court. 

Any minor who shall be likely to become a public charge may be bound by 
the County Court, or by any two overseers of the poor, or by any two justices 
of the peace of the county in which such minor may reside, with the approval 
of the Judge of the County Court. 

The indenture must be signed and sealed by the parties, whose consent is 
required by law, but the approval of the Judge of the County Court may be 
endorsed on the indenture, attested by his seal of office. 

The age and time of service of the minor shall be inserted in the indenture. 
It must be provided in the indenture, that the apprentice shall be taught to 
read, write, and the cardinal rules of arithmetic. 

The Judge of the County Court, or any two justices of the peace, excepting 
the justices who may have bound the apprentice complaining, shall hear com- 
plaints of apprentices against their masters, and may discharge the indenture. 

Indentures not in conformity with this law are void. 

Rights or Married Women and Widows. 

Widows shall be allowed, in all cases, in exclusion of creditors, as their sole 
property for ever, necessary beds, bedsteads and bedding for themselves and 
families, necessary household and kitchen furniture, one spinning wheel, one 
loom and its appendages, one pair of cards, one stove, and the necessary pipe 
therefor, the wearing apparel of themselves and families, one milch cow and 
calf for every four persons in the family, one horse at the value of forty dol- 
lars, one woman's saddle and bridle of the value of fifteen dollars, provisions 
for themselves and families one year, two sheep for each member of the family, 
and the fleeces taken from the same, food for the stock above described for six 
months, fuel for themselves and families for three months, and sixty dollars' 
worth of other property. 

The appraisers certify to the County Court an estimate of the value of each 
article allowed to the widow, and she may take other property in lieu of that 
above specified, at the value affixed by the appraisers. 

In addition to the above, widows of persons who may die intestate shall be 
entitled to one-third of the personal estate of their deceased husbands, after 
the payment of debts, as their property for ever. 

If the estate be intestate, and there shall be a widow, and no child or de- 



LAWS. 195 

scendants of the intestate, then the one-half of the real estate, and the whole 
of the personal estate, shall go to such widow, as her exclusive estate for 
ever. 

A widow is endowed of a third part of all the lands whereof her husband 
was seized of an estate of inheritance at any time during the marriage. 

Every devise of land bars her dower, unless otherwise expressed in the will, 
but she may elect, at any time within a year, whether she will take her dower 
or take under the will. 

Dower may be barred by a jointure created before marriage, with the assent 
of the intended wife, evinced by her becoming a party to the conveyance, by 
which it shall be settled, if she be of full age, or if she be an infant, by her 
joining with her father or guardian in such conveyance. 

A married woman may relinquish her right of dower in any of the real estate 
of her husband, by joining him in a deed of conveyance, and acknowledging 
the same, separate and apart from the husband. 

The real estate of the wife may be conveyed by her joining with her hus- 
band in the deed, if she be above the age of eighteen years, and by her ac- 
knowledging the same, separate and apart from her husband. 

Married women have power to dispose of their separate estate, both real 
and personal, by will, in the same manner as other persons. 

A married woman, residing out of the State, may relinquish dower, if above 
eighteen years of age. 

Estrats. 

Sec. 1. Every person who shall take up any estray horse, mare, colt, mule, 
or ass, after having given not less than ten nor more than fifteen days' notice, 
by posting up notices in three of the most public places in the justice's dis- 
trict in which he resides, shall take the same before some justice of the peace 
of the county where such estray shall be taken up, and make oath before such 
justice, that the same was taken up at his or her plantation or place of resi- 
dence, in said county, and that the marks or brands have not been altered 
since the taking up. 

Sec. 2. The said justice shall then summon three disinterested householders 
of the neighborhood, to appraise said estray, under oath, which appraisement, 
together with the brands, marks, stature, color, and age of such animal, shall 
be entered in a book to be kept by said justice, and transmitted to the clerk 
of the County Court within fifteen days after the same is taken up. 

Sec. 3. No such animal shall be taken up and posted between the first day 
of April and first day of November, unless the same be found out of the range 
of the proper owner, or within the lawful fence or enclosure of the taker up, 
having broken in the same, or manifestly running away from the owner. 

Sec. 4. No person not a householder of the county shall take up or post 
such animal. 



196 LAWS. 

Sec. 5. Any person who shall take up any neat cattle, sheep, hogs, or goats, 
shall give the notice required in Sec. 1, and shall go with some householder 
before a justice of the peace of the county, and make the oath required in the 
same section, and then such justice shall take from the householder a parti- 
cular description of the animal, and cause the same to he appraised as in Sec, 
2d, which description and valuation to be entered and transmitted to the clerk 
of the County Court, as before directed. In case the value of such animal 
does not exceed five dollars, the jtistice need not make such return to the 
clerk, but shall enter the description and value in his estray book, and adver- 
tise the same in three of the most public places in his neighborhood. 

Sec. 6. The clerk shall cause a copy of such return to be affixed to the 
court-house door, within five days after the same shall be transmitted to 
him. 

Sec. 7. No neat cattle, sheep, hogs, or goats, shall be taken up between the 
month of April and the first day of November, unless the same be found in the 
lawful fence or enclosure of the taker up, having broken the same, and for the 
reward of the taker up there shall be paid by the owner one dollar for every 
horse, mare, colt, mule, or ass, and for every head of neat cattle fifty cents, 
and for every hog, sheep, or goat, twenty-five cents, with all reasonable 
charges. 

Sec. 8. If the owner shall prove and take away such animals before ap- 
praisement, he shall pay all reasonable charges of the taker up. It is not 
lawful for the takers up to use estrays previous to advertising them. 

Sec. 9. It is the duty of the clerk of the County Court to publish the jus- 
tice's return in some paper, to be designated by the governor, at the end of 
ten days after the same is transmitted to him, and the printer must transmit 
a copy of his paper to the clerks of the County Court of the several counties' 
of the State. 

Sec. 10. If no owner appears within one year after such publication, the 
property shall be vested in the taker up ; but the former may, at any time 
thereafter, by proving his property, recover the valuation money, upon pay- 
ment of costs and all reasonable charges. 

Sec. 11. If any person shall sell or dispose of such estray within the year, 
he shall be liable to indictment, and shall be fined double the value of the 
property. 

Sec. 12. When the estray is worth less -than five dollars, the property vests 
in the taker up in one year from the time the description and value have been 
published at the court-house door. 

Sec. 13. It is lawful for any person taking up an estray hog between the 
first day of November and the first day of March, after complying with the 
provisions of Sec. 1 and Sec. 3, and making oath that he believes said estray 
has strayed from some drove, if no owner shall appear to prove said estray 



LAWS. 197 

within the time specified in said notice, to sell said estray to the highest bid- 
der, after giving public notice of said sale ten days previous thereto, the pro- 
ceeds, after paying reasonable charges, to be paid to the county. 

The Game Law. 

Section 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois represented in the 
General Assembly, That it shall be unlawful for any person to kill, ensnare, 
or trap, any deer, fawn, wild turkey, grouse, prairie hens or chickens, or 
quail, between the fifteenth day of January and the first of August of each 
and every year. 

Sec. 2. That it shall be unlawful for any person to buy, sell, or have in 
possession, any of the above-mentioned animals or birds, which shall have 
been killed, ensnared, trapped, or taken, between the first day of January and 
the first day of August of each and every year, as aforesaid ; and that having 
or being in possession of any of the above-mentioned animals or birds 
aforesaid by any person or persons between the said first clay of January and 
the first day of August aforesaid, shall be deemed and taken as prima facie 
evidence that the same was ensnared, trapped, or killed, by the person having 
possession of the same, in violation of the provisions of this act. 

Sec. 3. Any person who shall go upon the premises of any person or per- 
sons, or corporation, whether the same be enclosed or not, with intention to 
hunt, or to be found hunting, entrapping, or ensnaring any of the above- 
mentioned animals or birds, at or within the time aforesaid shall be deemed 
guilty of trespass, and may be prosecuted before any justice of the peace in 
the county wherein the said premises may he, by the owner or person in pos- 
session of the same, in action of trespass, and fined in any sum not less than 
five nor more than twenty dollars, to go to the owner or occupant of said 
premises: Provided, however, that a judgment obtained against any person for 
a violation of this act, under the fourth section thereof, shall be a bar to any 
suit under the third section of this act. 

Sec. 4. Any person who shall wilfully violate any of the provisions of this 
act, shall forfeit and pay a fine of fifteen dollars for each deer or fawn thus 
killed, ensnared, entrapped, bought, sold, or held in possession ; and for any other 
wild game, animals, or birds enumerated, either killed, ensnared, entrapped, 
bought, sold, or held in possession, as aforesaid, the sum of five dollars shall 
be paid ; to be sued for and recovered before any justice of the peace of the 
county in which the act shall have been violated, in an action of debt, or 
before any court having jurisdiction thereof; one-half of said penalty shall go 
to the complainant, and the other half to the school trustees of the township 
in which the act shall have been violated, to be added to the school fund of 
said township ; the action to be brought in the name of said county. 

Sec. 5. Provided that nothing in this act shall apply to the counties of 



198 LAWS. 

White, Wabash, Clay, Richland, Jasper, Lawrence, Crawford, Clark, Edgar, 
Coles, Moultrie, Effingham, Fayette, Bond, Cass, Menard, Pike, Schuyler, 
Brown, Scott, Washington, Jefferson, Marion, Hamilton, Clinton, Jackson, 
Franklin, Wayne, Edwards, McDonough, Alexander, Pulaski, Union, Hardin, 
Massac, Warren, Henderson, Monroe, Perry, Shelby, Cumberland, Jersey, 
Calhoun, Randolph, Pope, McLean, Knox, Fulton, Hancock, Adams, Stark, 
Vermilion, Montgomery, and Christian. 

Sec. 6. This act shall be in force from and after its passage. 

Approved, February 15, 1855. 






GEOGRAPHY. 

Situated in the centre of the United States, the state of Illinois 
extends from 37° to 42° SO' latitude North, and from 87° 49' to 
91° 28' longitude West of Greenwich, or from 10° 47' to 14° 2& 
longitude West of Washington. Illinois is bounded on the North- 
east by Lake Michigan j on the East by Indiana, from a part of which 
it is separated by the Wabash river; on the South by Kentucky and 
Missouri, being separated from Kentucky by the Ohio, and from Mis- 
souri by the Mississippi ; on the West by Missouri, from which it is 
also separated by the Mississippi ; on the North-west by Iowa, the 
Mississippi constituting the common boundary of both states, and on 
the North by Wisconsin, 

The whole length of the Illinoisian frontier amounts to 1160 miles, 
855 of which are formed by navigable waters, as Lake Michigan, 
the Wabash, Ohio, and Mississippi. The greatest length of the state, 
from South to North, from Cairo to Wisconsin, amounts to 378 miles; 
its greatest breadth to 212 miles. The area of the state is computed 
at 55,405 square miles, or 35,459,200 acres, — 1,833,412 of which 
are so-called swamp-lands; the residue, 33,625,788 acres, being till- 
able, and the most part of them having a soil of unsurpassed 
fertility. 

Illinois communicates by means of the St. Lawrence with the At- 
lantic ocean, and by the Mississippi with the Gulf of Mexico. 

The state of Illinois forms the lower part of that slope in which is 
embraced the greater part of the state of Indiana, and of which Lake 
Michigan, with its shores, constitutes the upper part. The lowest 
point of this slope and of the state is the city of Cairo, situated about 
350 feet above the level of the Gulf of Mexico, at the conflux of the 
Ohio and Mississippi, in the extreme southern portion of the state ; 
hence, the highest place in Illinois being situated only 800 feet above 
the level of the sea, it will appear, that the whole state, though con- 

(199) 



200 GEOGRAPHY. 

taining several hilly sections, is a very level plain • being, with the 
sole exception of Delaware and Louisiana, the flattest country in the 
Union. 

Illinois is more than forty times as great as the state of Rhode 
Island in its area, containing but 10,720 square miles less than the 
entire New England states. None but the following states possess a 
greater area — Virginia having 61,852, Georgia 58,000, Florida 
59,268, Missouri 67,380, Michigan 56,243, California 188,981, and 
Texas 237,321 square miles; but if California shall yet be divided 
into Upper and Lower California, Michigan into the state of Superior 
and Michigan proper, and Texas, as at the time of its annexation was 
provided for, into five different states, then Illinois, as far as regards 
its area, will rank fifth among the states of the Union. Illinois 
seems to be destined, within a short time, to play a great role in the 
United States, being entitled to this not only by the vastness of its 
area and its excellent geographical position, but also by the fertility 
of its easily culivated soil, the multitude of its rivers and fine 
railroads, and the rapid increase of its population, together with the 
enterprise and intelligence of its citizens. 

The principal rivers of the state of Illinois are — - 

The Illinois river, which, formed by the conflux of the Kankakee 
and Des Moines about fifty miles south-west of Chicago, during a 
course of 500 miles, receives several other rivers, as the Fox river, 
the Spoon river, the Crooked Creek, Mackinaw, Sangamon, and the 
Vermilion, from the south, besides several others. The Illinois river 
is deep and broad, extending at several places, as at Peoria, where it 
forms a basin called then Peoria Lake, to such a breadth as to present 
the appearance of a sea. It was first navigated in the year 1828 by 
a steamboat. 

Rock River, rising in Wisconsin, pursues a course of 300 miles, 
being navigable to some extent; there are, however, several rapids in 
the upper part of its course. A great par«t of the country through 
which Rock River runs is an undulating prairie, with a rich soil, 
though with but few forests. 

The Kaskash'a, a navigable river, rising in Champaign county, 
after a run to the south-west of more than 300 miles, empties its 
waters into the Mississippi, about 120 miles above the mouth of the 



GEOGRAPHY. 201 

Ohio. Kaskaskia River was already, in the year 1837, navigated by 
steamboats as far as Carlisle. Its banks, for an extent varying from 
two to ten miles, are richly garnished with woods and forests of oaks, 
hickory, ash, maple, elm, and acacia trees. The country through 
which the river winds its course is undulating and fertile. 

The Big Muddy river, in the south-western portion of the state, 
has various sources, constituting at their conflux the river above 
named, which, after a run to the south-west, discharges its waters 
into the Mississippi. The country through which it runs is undulat- 
ing and wooded, offering great advantages to agriculture and the 
breeding of cattle, 

Embarras River, in the eastern part of the state, takes its rise 
near the source of the Kaskaskia, and runs southerly, discharging its 
waters into the Wabash about six miles below Vincennes. The land 
along Embarras River is not everywhere of the same good quality, 
consisting at the origin of the river chiefly of prairie lands, and further 
north of Charleston, of forests garlanding the banks of the river at a 
breadth varying between two and six miles, extending even to ten 
miles below that place. 

Little Wabash River, rising also near the source of the Kaskaskia, 
runs south, emptying its waters into the Great Wabash, in Gallatin 
county. Its banks, for an extent of several miles, are garnished 
with good and heavy timber; at intervals poplars can be found. 
The country adjacent to this river is fertile, exposed however to in- 
undations from the river. 

Sangamon River, rising in McLean county, runs south-west, con- 
stituting during the latter part of its course the boundary line between 
Monroe and Cass counties, and emptying its waters into Illinois 
River. The country watered by the Sangamon is one of the richest, 
being quite level, and having excellent soil. 

Apple River, rising in Jo Daviess county, near the Wisconsin fron- 
tier, has a rocky bed, and is very rapid, running south-west, and flow- 
ing into the Mississippi about twenty miles below Galena. The adja- 
cent bottom-lands have excellent soil ; the more elevated country in 
its vicinity being hilly, its banks woody, and the country around its 
springs undulating. 

Chicago River, consisting of two branches, the more considerable 



202 GEOGRAPHY. 

one of which is that running North, and both of them flowing 
together within the city of Chicago, empties its waters into Lake 
Michigan. 

Des Plaines River, rising in Wisconsin, at the distance of a few 
miles from Lake Michigan, runs South, and is a tributary of Illinois 
River by the union of its waters with those of the Kaukakee. Its 
banks are tufted with frequent groves, the country around it being 
well watered, and the soil very rich. 

Du Page River, in the north-eastern section of the state, consists 
of two branches, emptying their united waters into the Des Plaines 
river, three miles above the confluence of the latter with the 
Kaukakee. 

The Cash river, in the southern portion of the state, formed by the 
union of several small streams, flows into the Ohio, six miles above 
the junction of the latter with the Mississippi. The alluvial land 
along Cash River, wherever it is not exposed to inundation, possesses 
a rich soil and heavy timber. 

The Edwards river, rising in the midst of the prairies of Henry 
county, runs Westward, through Mercer county, to the Mississippi. 
The country around it consists of undulating prairie-lands, intersected 
by shady groves, and well supplied with water. 

The Fever river, rising in Jo Daviess county, consists of two 
branches, and empties its waters into the Mississippi, about seven 
miles south of Galena. Its channel is rocky, and its course very 
rapid. On the eastern branch there is little wood, but excellent 
prairies, and mines yielding an abundant supply of lead. There is 
more wood on the western branch, the alluvial country around which 
has a rich soil. The name of the river has been derived from the 
fevers said to prevail in the vicinity of its banks; whilst others have 
called it Bean River (in French, Riviere a- la Feve), either of which 
is incorrect, the river having been named by a Frenchman of the 
name of Le Fevre, who at an early period settled at the mouth of the 
stream. 

Fox River, on the banks of which fine forests may be found, rises 
in Wisconsin, flowing, near Ottawa, into the Illinois. 

Another river of the same name runs south, a tributary of the 



GEOGRAPHY. 203 

Little Wabash, into which it empties its waters. The land along its 
banks is not very excellent. 

A third river of the same name, in White county, runs, after a 
short course, into the Great Wabash. 

Green River, rising in the swamps of the northern counties, runs 
west, through Henry county, into Rock River. The country below 
the swamps is good, consisting of both woods and prairies. 

Henderson River, rising in Knox county, runs south-west, receiv- 
ing during its course several small streams, and flowing into the Mis- 
sissippi. Fine forests grow on its banks, the country around which 
is among the most fertile in Illinois. 

Iroquois River, rising in the north-western section of Indiana, runs 
North-West, becoming a tributary of the Illinois by discharging its 
waters into the Kankakee. The country through which the Iroquois 
runs is undulating ; the soil a little sandy, but rich ; timber to be 
found in sufficient quantity. 

The Kankakee, one of the principal tributary rivers of the Illinois, 
rising in Indiana, runs west, receiving the Iroquois and Des Plaines 
rivers. Woods are but rarely to be met with on its banks, the prairies 
around which are slightly undulating, having a rich soil. 

The Kickapoo consists of two branches, after the conflux of which 
it pursues a southerly direction, discharging its waters into the Illi- 
nois, two miles below Peoria. On both its branches there is much 
excellent land, intersected with groups of forests, the ground being 
rather hilly. 

The Kishwauhee, or Sycamore, formed by the junction of several 
small waters, some of which rise in Wisconsin, others in the northern 
counties of Illinois, discharges the waters of its three principal 
branches, after their combination, in Rock River. Its banks have 
but little wood ; the prairie along the eastern branch is flat and fertile ; 
and the country along the southern and northern branches undulating, 
and remarkable for its very rich, deep, black soil, and its beds of 
lime and coal. 

The Kite river, in Ogle county, runs west, flowing into Rock river, 
about two miles Jaelow Oregon. The country is very level, and the 
soil very fine \ woods, among which are many poplars, can be found 
at intervals. 



204 GEOGRAPHY. 

The Leaf river, in Ogle county, also empties its waters into Hock 
River. The land adjoiniQg its banks is rich, calcareous, and woody 
at intervals. 

Little Rock River, rising in Jo Daviess county, flows into Rock 
River. On its banks there is much excellent soil. 

The Mackinaw (Michilimackinac), rising in the prairies of McLean 
county, and receiving several small brooks, runs through Tazewell 
county into the Illinois river, three miles below Pekin. The adjacent 
bottom-lands have a rich soil. Timber, especially white oak and 
cedar, may be found. The prairies of the country are undulating and 
dry. Towards the sources of the river, the number of species of 
woods increases, whilst the soil is very good. 

The Mauvaise Terre, in Morgan county, runs west, meeting Illi- 
nois River about two miles below Naples. Although from the name 
of the river (Mauvaise Terre, " poor land") one might infer that the 
soil of the adjacent country is of a very bad quality, this is not the 
case ; the country, on the contrary, surpassing many other sections in 
fertility, and has the advantage of having a just proportion between 
prairie and forest, as also a remarkable salubrity of waters. 

The Peeh-a-ton-o-kee rises in Wisconsin, in two separate branches, 
which, after their conflux, flows into Illinois to meet Rock River. 

The Plum river, the country surrounding the banks of which has 
a fine soil, with both wood and prairie, runs through Jo Daviess county 
into the Mississippi. 

Pope's River, rising in the great prairies in the southern part of 
Henry county, runs west through Mercer county, discharging its 
waters into the Mississippi a few miles below the mouth of Edwards' 
River. The adjacent country is very good, but destitute of forests ; 
on the banks of the river, towards the end of its course, there are, 
however, some extensive woods, while its upper banks are surrounded 
by prairies. 

Saline River, in Saline and Gallatin counties, consists of three 
branches, discharging their united waters into the Ohio, twelve miles 
below Shawneetown. 

Senatchwine River, on the banks of which there is much good land, 
both wood and prairie, runs through Peoria county into Illinois River, 
about twenty miles above Peoria. 



GEOGRAPHY. 205 

The Sinsinaway, rising in Wisconsin, runs south-west into the 
Mississippi, about six miles above Fever River. Timber on its banks 
is very rare ; only now and then some cedars and pines may be found. 

Small-pox River, rising south-east of Galena, runs west into the 
Mississippi, close by the mouth of Fever River. On its banks, near 
the place where it flows into the Mississippi, much valuable timber 
may be found. 

The Snycartee, a branch of the Mississippi, whence it flows, in the 
southern portion of Adams county, running for about fifty miles par- 
allel with, and five miles from, the Mississippi, to meet it again in 
Calhoun county, forms, with the Mississippi, an island, consisting of 
alluvial land, not destitute either of forest or prairie, but frequently 
exposed to inundations. 

Spoon River consists of an eastern and western branch, both of 
which having received a multitude of creeks, unite ; whereupon the 
river takes a southern direction to meet the Illinois, opposite Havana. 
On its banks there are many extensive woody tracts ; the soil of the 
adjoining country is of unsurpassed excellence. The prairies near by 
the river are undulating, dry, and fertile. 

St. Mary's River, rising in Perry county, discharges its waters into 
the Mississippi six miles below the mouth of the Kaskaskia. , 

The Sugar river, rising in Wisconsin, runs southerly to meet the 
Peek-a-ton-o-kee. The land upon its banks is of good quality ; the 
country between Rock and Sugar rivers very humid. 

Turtle River, rising in Wisconsin, flows near the boundary into 
Rock River. 

Vermilion River, rising in Livingston county, runs through La 
Salle county, emptying into Illinois River. Towards its springs the 
country is nearly level, having a rich soil and vast prairies, but very 
little wood. In the vicinity of the river, and near the bluffs, are 
many extensive coal mines, of which those situated in the direction 
of the Illinois river reach a depth of 100 feet ; also beds of sand, and 
lime, and a kind of stone used as whetstone, may here be found. 

Big Vermilion River, proceeding in three different branches 
through Champaign and Vermilion counties, falls, in Indiana, into the 
Wabash. Its banks are garnished with a wood from one to two miles 
broad; the adjacent prairies are dry, rolling, and fertile. 
18 



206 GEOGRAPHY. 

Little Vermilion River, rising in the southern part of Vermilion 
county, runs also into the Wabash in Indiana. On its banks fine 
forests may be found. 

Wood River, rising in Macoupin county, runs through Madison 
county, discharging its waters nearly opposite the mouth of the Mis- 
souri, into the Mississippi. The land through which it runs is of 
superior quality. 

Illinois has, besides these streams, a multitude of rivulets, the banks 
of which, as well as those of the rivers mentioned above, consist of 
alluvial, and consequently very fertile soil, so that neither in the 
Union, nor anywhere else on earth, could be found a State of equal 
size with Illinois rivalling the latter in the fertility and superior 
quality of its soil. 

Of lakes, none can be found in Illinois; that portion of Lake 
Michigan* bounding the State being comparatively but small, so that 
this lake, the navigation of which has contributed so much to the ad- 
vancement of Illinois, cannot be properly considered as belonging to 
the State. 

The only sheet of water, that in a measure might lay claim to the 
name of a lake, is Peoria Lake, which, however, as was mentioned 
when Illinois River was spoken of, is nothing but an enlargement of 
this river; none of the other waters deserve this name at all, but 
should rather be called ponds. 

An artificial aqueduct, that has likewise considerably accelerated the 
advancement of Illinois, is yet to be mentioned. The Illinois and 
Michigan Canal extends from Chicago to Peru, a distance of one hun- 
dred miles, connecting thus the Lake of Michigan with the Illinois : 
it is 6 feet deep, 70 feet broad at the top, and 36 at the bottom. 

What distinguish the State of Illinois from all the other States of 
he Union, are its immense prairies, from which it has been exclusively 
.ailed the " Prairie State." We do not intend to give in this geo- 
graphical sketch a detailed description of the nature of a prairie, but 
netting apart a special chapter for this, we shall here only mention the 
principal prairies — those known under peculiar names. 

* The greatest length of Lake Michigan is 360 miles ; its greatest breadth, 
108 miles; mean depth, 800 feet; elevation, 587 feet; area, 23,000 square 
miles. 






GEOGRAPHY. 207 

The most considerable of these prairies is the Grand Prairie, com- 
prehending all prairie-lands between the rivers flowing into the Mis- 
sissippi and those meeting the Wabash. The prairie itself does not 
consist of one single continuous extensive tract of land, but of many 
different prairies, separated one from the other by a range of woods, 
while the prairies, in their turn, stretch between the usually woody 
banks of the rivers and creeks. The most southerly portion of the 
great prairie is situated in the north-east section of Jackson county, 
extending north-easterly from the Mississippi, with a breadth varying 
from two to ten and more miles, through Perry, Washington, Jeffer- 
son, Marion, Fayette, Clay, Effingham, Shelby, Moultrie, Cumberland, 
Coles, Champaign, Vermilion, and Iroquois counties; here it meets 
the prairies stretching easterly from Illinois River and its tributaries. 
That portion of these prairie-lands lying in Marion county, between 
Crooked Creek and the eastern branch of the Kaskaskia, intersected 
by the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, is often exclusively named the 
Grand Prairie. 

The greater portion of the Grand Prairie is slightly undulating, its 
southern part quite level, having many tracts of land of but inferior 
quality. At the distance of ten or twelve miles around, timber is 
sure to be found ; coal almost everywhere, at no great depth. 

Another prairie, also called Grand Prairie, commences in Crawford 
county, extending north through Clark and Edgar counties to Vermi- 
lion. It is not very broad, and at frequent intervals is intersected by 
forest-bordered rivers. 

The soil of the southern and eastern is not as good as that of the 
northern and western portion of these prairies, which, with the ex- 
ception of those adjacent to the Wabash, have a thin and nearly level 

washy humus. 

Allen's Prairie, in Greene county, twelve miles north-east of Car- 

rollton, is fertile, and wooded on the banks of the rivers running 

through it. 
Alison's Prairie, in Lawrence county, five miles easterly from 

Lawrenceville, is some five miles by ten. That portion of it adjacent 

to the Wabash, is humid ; by far the greater portion of it, however 

is dry and fertile. 



208 GEOGRAPHY. 

Appla-Creek Prairie, in Greene county, north of Apple Creek, is 
from three to four miles by ten in extent. Its soil is good. 

Barney's Prairie, in Wabash county, north of Mount Carmel. 
Fertile. 

Bear Prairie, in Wayne county, east of Fairfield. 

Bellevue Prairie, in Calhoun county, at the foot of the bluffs, ten 
miles in extent, has a dry and fertile soil. 

Big Mound Prairie, Wayne county, west of Fairfield, three miles 
long, rolling, with a thin surface of humus. 

Big Prairie, in White county, three miles square, much mixed 
with sand, but fertile. 

Boltinghouse Prairie, in Edwards county, south of Albion, ex- 
tending four miles by three, has an undulating, fertile soil. 

Bonpas Prairie, in the same county, north-east of Albion, and 
about two miles in diameter. Soil good. 

Brown's Prairie, twelve miles north of Alton, runs through the 
corners of Macoupin, Jersey, and Madison counties, which border 
upon each other. The soil is dry and fertile. 

Brushy Prairie, in Wayne county, eleven miles east of Fairfield. 

Buchheart Prairie, in Fulton county, north-east of Lewistown, 
about seven miles long. 

Buck Prairie, in Edwards county, six miles north-east of Albion, 
two and a half miles broad. 

Buchhorn Prairie, in Morgan county, about seven miles south of 
Jacksonville. The soil is rich, a little humid, and very level. 

Bullard's Prairie, in Lawrence county, west of Lawrenceville, is 
ten miles by two in extent, having a second-rate soil. 

Burnt Prairie extends from the north-western section of White 
into Wayne county. Its circumference is not very great ; its soil at 
intervals good. 

Another prairie of the same name, situate in Edwards county, 
north-west of Albion, extends two miles by six, interspersed with 
many small groves. Soil good. 

Canton Prairie, in Fulton county, commencing in the vicinity of 
Spoon River, extends northerly till it meets Grand Prairie, near Rock 
River; it is rolling, dry, and very fertile, with the exception of its 
northern section, which is of inferior quality. 



GEOGRAPHY. 209 

Casey's. Prairie, in Jefferson county, five miles by two, nearly 
level ) second-rate soil. 

Christy's Prairie, in Lawrence county, ten miles west of Lawrence- 
ville, rolling, and of good average soil. 

Clay's Prairie, in Clark county, eight miles south-west of 
Darwin. 

Cold Prairie, in St. Clair county, between Belleville and Illinois- 
town. 

Compston's Prairie, in Wabash county, twelve miles west of Mount 
Carmel, is level, fertile, but somewhat humid. 

Cotton Hill Prairie, in Sangamon county, twelve, miles south of 
Springfield. 

Cox's Prairie, in Jackson county, north-east of Brownsville ; good 
rolling prairie.. 

Crow Prairie, in Putnam county, twelve miles below Hennepin, 
six miles by three ; fertile, and bounded by forests. 

Another prairie of the same name extends, four miles by twelve, 
along the western bank of Illinois River from Putnam into Bureau 
county ; soil dry and productive. 

Decker's Prairie, in Wabash county, twelve miles north-east of 
Mount Carmel. 

Diamond Grove Prairie, in Morgan county, south of Jackson- 
ville, containing about sixteen square miles, is dry, undulating, and 
productive. 

Dolson's Prairie, in the western section of Clark county, contain- 
ing about seventy square miles, has a level, humid, clayish soil. 

Dutch Prairie, in the south-western part of St. Clair county. 

Edmonson's Prairie, in McDonough county, six miles south-west 
of Macomb, ten miles by two. 

Eight-mile Prairie, in Williamson county, eighteen miles south- 
west of Frankfort ; very flat. 

Elk Prairie, in Perry county, five miles long, dry and nearly level; 
second-rate soil. 

Ester's Prairie, in Franklin county, fourteen miles north of Frank 
fort ; level and dry. 

Flat Prairie, in Randolph county, twenty miles east of Kas- 
kaskia. 

18* o 



210 GEOGRAPHY. 

Fork Prairie, in Bond county, north of Greenville; gently undu- 
lating. 

Four-mile Prairie, in Perry county, four miles by seven ; dry, 
rolling, and productive. 

Fourteen-mile Prairie, in Effingham county, east of Livingston ; 
nearly level, for the most part dry, interspersed with groups of 
forests. 

Garden Prairie, in Sangamon county, fourteen miles north-west 
of Springfield, two miles by eight ; first-rate soil. 

Granger's Prairie, in the north-western section of Adams county, 
three miles square; possesses very productive soil. 

Gun Prairie, in Jefferson county, six miles south of Mount Ver- 
non, has a considerable circuit, and a fertile soil. 

Hancock Prairie, commencing in Adams county, runs, with a 
breadth varying between ten and twenty miles, far north, through 
Hancock, Henderson, and Warren counties, between Henderson and 
Spoon rivers, being nearly level, and very productive. 

Hargrave's Prairie, in Wayne county, seven miles by two, is un- 
dulating, having but a thin surface of humus. 

Hawkins* Prairie, in Greene county, nine miles south-east of 
Carrollton. 

Herron's Prairie is situated in Williamson county. 

Herrington' s Prairie, in Wayne county, eleven miles north-west 
of Fairfield, eight miles by four ; has an undulating surface, and 
second-rate soil. 

High Prairie, in St. Clair county, eight miles from Belleville j 
very productive. 

Hog Prairie, in Hamilton county, situated westerly from McLeans- 
burg ; has a small circumference, and a level, humid soil, 

Horse Prairie, in Randolph county ; soil rolling and fertile. 

Illinois Prairie, in Calhoun county, commencing near the mouth 
of Illinois River, runs, twenty miles by two, along the bluffs, having 
a fertile soil. 

Indian Prairie, in Wayne county, ten miles north-west of Fair- 
field; is level, and its soil of indifferent quality. 

Jersey Prairie, in Morgan county, ten miles north of Jacksonville, 
has a rich soil, and is bounded by fine timber. 



GEOGRAPHY. % 211 

Jordan's Prairie, in Jefferson county, six miles north of Mount 
Yernon, five miles hy two, has a second rate soil. 

Knight! s Prairie, in Hamilton county, west of McLeansboro'. 

Knob Prairie, in Franklin county, north-west of Frankfort, is low 
and humid. 

La Motie Prairie, in Crawford county, eight miles long, of a 
breadth which greatly varies; has a somewhat sandy, but rich soil. 

La Salle Prairie, in Peoria county, adjacent to Peoria Lake; the 
southern section is rolling and fertile, though a little sandy; the 
northern being more clayish. 

Lemarde Prairie, in Wayne county, seven miles north-west of 
Fairfield, is three miles by six in extent, having an indifferent soil. 

Little Mount Prairie, in the same county, three miles south-west 
of Fairfield ; not very large. 

There are four prairies in the state bearing the name of Long 
Prairie, of which — 

The first is in Wabash county, thirteen miles north-west of Mount 
Carmel; undulating, and of but inferior quality. 

The second, in Edwards county, north of Albion, is nine miles by 
two in extent, interspersed with many groves. 

The third, in Clay county, runs into Wayne county, nine miles by 
three; being, properly speaking, a branch of Twelve-mile Prairie. It 
is level, and has but a poor soil. 

The fourth, in Jefferson county, five miles west of Mount Yernon, 
is four miles by two in extent, having a sufficiently good soil. 

Looking-glass Prairie, in St. Clair county, twenty miles long, and 
from six to ten miles wide ; undulating, and very productive, runs 
into Madison county. 

Lorton's Prairie, in the northern part of Greene county, has excel- 
lent soil and fine forests. 

Lost Prairie, in Perry county, seven miles west of Pinckneyville, 
one and a half miles broad and double that length, is high, rolling, 
and very productive. 

Loup Prairie, in St. Clair county. 

Liu-kens' Prairie, in the southern part of Lawrence county. 

Macon County Prairie, situated north of Decatur, extends between 
the northern branch of the Sangamon river and Salt Creek, with a 



212 GEOGRAPHY. 

breadth varying from fifteen to - twenty miles; some parts of it are 
level and humid, others roiling and dry. 

Macoupin Prairie, in Greene county, reaches into Jersey county ; 
gently rolling, having a rich soil and stately forests near the Illinois 
river and the Macoupin creek. 

Marshall's Prairie, in Jackson county, fourteen miles north-east of 
Brownsville, has a rolling and fertile surface. 

Mason's Prairie, in the southern section of Richland county. 

Mill's Prairie, in Edwards county, eleven miles north-east of Al- 
bion, is four miles long, about two broad ; quite fertile. 

Moore's Prairie, in Jefferson county, south-east of Mount Vernon, 
eight miles by about two. Some parts of it are flat and humid, 
others dry and gently undulating. 

Another prairie of the same name, situated in St. Clair county, 
five miles east of Belleville, has a diameter of about five miles ) it is 
nearly level, and fertile. 

Mud Prairie, in Washington county, reaches into Perry county, 
north-east of Pinckney ville ; it is level and humid. 

Another prairie of the same name lies in Wayne county, north-west 
of Fairfield ; also low and humid. 

A third prairie of the same name (Mud Prairie) is situated in the 
south-eastern portion of St. Clair county. 

Nine-mile Prairie, in Perry county, ten miles east of Pinckney- 
ville. 

North Arm Prairie, in Edgar county, six miles east of Paris, is 
three miles broad, running along the frontier of Indiana, until it 
meets the grand prairie. Its soil is good. 

North Prairie, in Morgan county, twelve miles north-east of Jack- 
sonville, is dry, undulating, and very productive. 

Another prairie of the same name, in the same county, runs along 
Walnut Creek, and is level. 

Ogle Prairie, in St. Clair county, five miles north of Belleville, 
extending one and a half miles by five, is rolling and very fertile. 

Ox-bow Prairie, in Putnam county, ten miles south of Hennepin, 
five miles by one and a half, surrounded by fine forests, and very 
productive. 



GEOGRAPHY. 213 

Par7cer's Prairie, in the western section of Clark county, has a 
level, humid soil, of inferior quality. 

Philo's Prairie, in Williamson county, twelve miles south of Frank- 
fort; gently undulating, and fertile. 

Plum Creek Prairie reaches from St. Clair into Eandolph county, 
and is ten miles by three in extent. Its soil is good. 

Prairie du Long, in the south of St. Clair county. 

Pratt's Prairie, in Greene county, fifteen miles north-west of Car- 
rollton. 
: Rattan's Prairie, in Madison county, seven miles north-west of 
Edwardsville ; is level, and at intervals washy. 

Ridge Prairie, in Madison county, is eight miles by eight, running 
from near by Edwardsville to St. Clair county; gently undulating, 
and very productive. 

Rollins' Prairie, in Franklin county, north of Frankfort, is sis 
miles long by four broad; it is level and fertile. 

Five different prairies in the State of Illinois bear the name of 
Round Prairie, of which — 

The first is in Schuyler county, four miles in diameter ; dry, fer- 
tile, and surrounded by woods. 

The second is in Wabash county, north-east of Mount Carmel, with 
a diameter of four miles : has an excellent soil. 

The third is in Bond county, six miles north-west of Greenville, 
with a diameter of nearly two miles : is rolling, very fertile, and sur_ 
rounded by forests. 

The fourth is in Perry county, about eight miles from Pinckney- 
v^lle : it has but a small circumference. 

The fifth is in Sangamon county, seven miles south-east of Spring- 
field : it is very productive. 

Salt Prairie, in Calhoun county, forms a small strip, half a mile 
broad and six miles long : it is dry and fertile. 

Sand Prairie, in Tazewell county, four miles south of Pekin, has 
a sandy, good soil. 

Seven-mile Prairie, in White county, seven miles west of Carmi. 

Shipley's Prairie, in Wayne county, five miles south-east of Fair- 
field. 

Shoal- Creek Prairie runs from Clinton through Bond into Mont- 



214 GEOGRAPHY. 

gomery county, with an average breadth, of eight miles, gently undu- 
lating, and containing much good land. 

Six's Prairie, in Brown county, seventeen miles south-west of 
Rushville, is ten miles by three in extent, undulating, dry, productive, 
and surrounded by woods. 

Six-mile Prairie, in the south-western section of Madison county, 
consisting of alluvial ground, is enclosed by woods. 

Another prairie of the same name is situated in Perry county, nine 
miles south of Pinckneyville, nine miles long by six broad, with toler- 
ably good soil. 

Smooth Prairie, in Madison county, eight miles east of Alton, is 
three miles by two in extent, being level and somewhat humid. 

South Prairie, in Morgan county, on the southern side of Walnut 
Creek. 

Squaw Prairie, in Boone county, is level and fertile, containing 
about ten square miles. 

String Prairie, in Greene county, commences four miles west of 
Carrollton, running fifteen miles east, with a breadth of from one to 
three miles ; is level, and a good tract of land upon the whole. 

Sweet's Prairie, in Scott county, three miles west of Manchester, 
is level and washy. 

Swett's Prairie, in Madison county, four miles north-east of Ed- 
wardsville. 

Three-mile Prairie, in Washington county, eight miles south of 
Nashville, is undulating. 

Tonis Prairie, in Wayne county, six miles north-east of Fairfield, 
has second-rate soil. 

Totten's Prairie, in Fulton county, seven miles north-west of Lew- 
istown, is ten miles long and of varying breadth. The soil is good. 

Turners Prairie, in Wayne county, eight miles south of Fairfield, 
has a small circumference and a good soil. 

Twelve-mile Prairie, in Effingham county, reaches into Clay 
county ', level and humid at intervals. 

Another " Twelve-mile Prairie," situated in St. Clair county, is 
somewhat rolling, having a good soil. 

Union Prairie, in the south-eastern section of Clark county, is five 
miles long by three broad. 



GEOGRAPHY. 



215 



Another prairie bearing the same name (Union Prairie), lies in 
Schuyler county, four miles west of Rushville. 

Village Prairie, in Edwards county, two miles north of Albion, is 
about three miles long. 

Walnut Hill Prairie reaches from Jefferson into Marion county; 
it is four miles by three, some parts of it being fertile, others humid 
and level. 

Walnut Prairie, in Clark county, extends five miles by two, having 
a fertile, though somewhat sandy soil. 

Webb's Prairie, in Franklin county, fifteen miles north-east of 
Frankfort, has a fertile soil. 

Wood's Prairie, in Wabash county, ten miles distant from Mount 
Carmel, is very productive. 

Having enumerated above the prairies which are known by their 
own proper names, we cannot leave it unmentioned, that there are 
many others bearing indifferent names; Illinois having in general 
such an abundance of prairies, that nearly two-thirds of its area con- 
sist of them. 

In order to enable the reader to inform himself regarding the man- 
ner in which prairie and forest are distributed over the area of the 
State, we subjoin a prairie and forest map, wherein the counties are 
marked and designated. We repeat them here, in alphabetical order: 



1. Adams. 


17. 


Crawford. 


33. 


Hardin. 


2. Alexander. 


18. 


Cumberland. 


34. 


Henderson. 


3. Bond. 


19, 


De Kalb. 


35. 


Henry. 


4. Boone. 


20. 


De Witt. 


3G. 


Iroquois. 


5. Brown. 


21. 


Du Page. 


37. 


Jackson. 


6. Bureau. 


22. 


Edgar. 


38. 


Jasper. 


7. Calhoun. 


23. 


Edwards. 


39. 


Jefferson. 


8. Carroll. 


24. 


Effingham. 


40. 


Jersey. 


9. Cass. 


25. 


Fayette. 


41. 


Jo Daviess. 


10. Champaign. 


2G. 


Franklin. 


42. 


Johnson. 


11. Christian. 


27. 


Fulton. 


43. 


Kane. 


12, Clark. 


28. 


Gallatin. 


44. 


Kankakee. 


13, Clay. 


29. 


Greene. 


45. 


Kendall. 


14. Clinton. 


30. 


Grundy. 


46. 


Knox. 


15. Coles. 


31. 


Hamilton. 


47. 


Lake. 


16. Cook. 


32. 


Hancock. 


48. 


La Salle. 



216 



GEOGRAPHY. 



49. Lawrence. 

50. Lee. 

51. Livingston. 

52. Logan. 

53. Macon. 

54. Macoupin. 

55. Madison. 

56. Marion. 

57. Marshall. 

58. Mason. 

59. Massac. 

60. McDonough. 

61. McHenry. 

62. McLean. 

63. Menard. 

64. Mercer. 

65. Monroe. 

66. Montgomery. 



67. Morgan. 

68. Moultrie. 

69. Ogle. 

70. Peoria. 

71. Perry. 

72. Piatt. 

73. Pike. 

74. Pope. 

75. Pulaski. 

76. Putnam. 

77. Eandolph. 

78. Richland. 

79. Rock Island. 

80. Saline. 

81. St. Clair. 

82. Sangamon. 

83. Scott. 

84. Shelby. 



85. Schuyler. 

86. Stark. 

87. Stephenson. 

88. Tazewell. 

89. Union. 

90. Vermillion. 

91. Wabash. 

92. Warren. 

93. Washington. 

94. Wayne. 

95. White. 

96. Whitesides. 

97. Will. 

98. Williamson. 

99. Winnebago. 
100. Woodford. 



There are no mountains in Illinois ; in the southern, as well as in 
the northern part of the State, there are a few hills ; near the banks 
of the Illinois, Mississippi, and several other rivers, the ground is 
elevated, forming the so-called bluffs, on which, at the present day, 
may be found, uneffaced by the hand of Time, the marks and traces 
left by the water, which was formerly much higher, and gradually 
lowered; whence it may be safe to conclude, that where now the fer- 
tile prairies of Illinois extend, and the rich soil of the country yields 
its golden harvests, must have once been a vast sheet of water, the 
mud deposited by which formed the soil, thus accounting for the pre- 
sent great fertility of the country. 

In relation to the quality of its soils, Illinois is generally divided 
as follows : 

First, the alluvial land on the margins of the rivers, and extending 
with a breadth varying from half a mile or a mile to seven or eight miles. 
Wherever it is elevated, this country is of an extraordinary fertility ; 
at those places where it is low, and consequently exposed to inunda- 
tions, it is a very unsafe matter to attempt cultivating it. The most 
extensive tract of alluvial land is the so-called American Bottom, 
which was thus named at the time it formed the western boundary 



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W A R D S 






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ILLINOIS, 

PRAIRIES, WOODS, 
SWAMPS, AND BLUFFS. 



EXPLANATION. 

jlp| WOODS, 
g] PRAIRIES. 
BEH SWAMPS. 
BLUFFS. 



jgS 



GEOGRAPHY. 217 

of the United States; it stretches from the junction of the Kaskaskia 
with the Mississippi, along the latter to the mouth of the Missouri, 
containing about 450 square miles, or 288,000 acres. 

Secondly, the table-land, fifty to a hundred feet higher than the 
alluvial land; this commences at the slopes, by which the latter is 
encompassed; it consists principally of prairies, which, according to 
their respectively higher or lower situations, are either dry, or humid 
and marshy. 

Thirdly, the somewhat hilly sections of the State, which, alternately 
consisting of wood and prairie, are on the whole not as fertile as either 
the alluvial or the table land. 

The soil of Illinois is unsurpassed in fertility by that of any other 
State, there being no room for doubt, that at the time it shall have 
been settled throughout its entire extent, the produce of its harvests 
will surpass that of many other States together. Where in the world 
could a fertility be found equal to that of the American Bottom, which, 
ever since it was settled by the French, about 150 years ago, has, 
without any manuring whatever, yielded, year after year, the most 
abundant crops of Indian corn ? 



19 



STATISTICS. 



The population of Illinois is returned, by the Census of 1855, at 
1,300,251 souls ; having, since the year 1810, increased as fol- 
lows : — 

In the year 1810 it amounted to 12,282 inhabitants. 



it 


1820 
1830 
1835 
1840 
1845 
1850 
1855 

to 1820 by 
" 1830 « 
" 1835 " 
" 1840 <f 
*.' 1845 " 
" 1850 « 
" 1855 " 


it 


55,211 


a 


It 


tt 
it 


157,445 


a 


it 


272,427 


a 


it 


a 
a 
a 
tt 


476,183 


it 


it 


662,125 


a 


it 


. 851,470 


a 


a 

Thus increasing 

From 1810 

" 1820 


....1,300,251 « 

42,929 inTifl.Wtn.TJta. 




,.. 102,234 


a 


" 1830 
** 1835 




114,982 

203,756 


a 
a 


" 1840 




185,942 


a 


« 1845 
" 1850 




189,345 

448,781 





What distinguishes the state of Illinois from the other states of 
the Union, is its gigantic growth in numbers, as upon instituting a com- 
parison with those states, the ratio of the increase in the population of 
which has also been very considerable, will be placed beyond a doubt. 
. The United States' Census returns the population of Indiana, 
Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and 
Pennsylvania, as follows : — 

Indiana, in 1800 

1810 

1820 147,178 

1830 343,031 " 

1840 685,866 « 

1850 988,416 " 

(218) 



4,875 inhabitants. 
24,520 " 



STATISTICS. 



219 



Maine, in 1790 96,540 inhab: 



1800 
1810 



151, 

228, 



719 
705 



1820 298,335 



1830.-. 

1840 . 

1850 . 

Massachusetts, in 1790 . 

1800 . 



399,455 

501,793 

583,169 

378,717 

423,245 

1810 , 472,040 

1820 523,287 

1830 610,408 

1840 737,699 

1850 ... 994,514 

Michigan, in 1810 4,762 

1820 8,896 

1S30 31,639 

1840 212,267 

1850 397,654 

New Jersey, ... in 1790 184,139 

1800 211,949 

245,555 

277,575 

320,823 

373,306 

489,555 

340,120 

586,756 

959,049 

1,372,812 

; 1,918,608 



1810 

1820 

1830 

1840 

1850 

New York, in 1790 

1800 

1810 , 

1820 

1830 

1840 2,428,921 

1850 3,097,394 

Ohio, in 1800 45,365 

1810 230,760 

1820 581,434 

1830 937,903 

1840 1,519,467 

1850 1,980,329 

Pennsylvania, in 1790 434,373 

1800 602,361 

1810 810,091 



tants. 



220 STATISTICS. 

Pennsylvania, in 1820 1,049,458 inhabitants. 

18.30 1,348,233 

1840 1,724,033 

1850 .2,311,786 

Thus the increase of the population of the before-mentioned states, 
in which census returns were made since 1810, for the forty years, 
from 1810 to 1850, must be calculated as follows : — 

Indiana 3,931 per cent. 

Maine...... 155 « 

Massachusetts 110 " 

Michigan 8,250 " 

New Jersey 99 " 

New York 316 « 

Ohio 758 " 

Pennsylvania ... 185 " 

Illinois , 6,832 

Although from the above it would appear, that Michigan surpasses 
the state of Illinois in the rapid increase of its population, on con- 
sidering that in the year 1850 Michigan possessed a much smaller 
population than Illinois, having but 397,654 inhabitants to set off 
against the 851,470 of the latter; that the immigration to Michigan, 
during the years 1850 — 1855, was considerably less than that to 
Illinois ; further, that the population of Illinois, during the five years, 
1850 — 1855, has increased by about 52 per cent., or more than one- 
half; and during the forty-five years, 1810 — 1855, by about 10,486 
per cent. ; we can only regret that we are not in possession of the 
returns of the census of Michigan for 1855 ; by placing the statement 
given by these with regard to the increase of the population of Michi- 
gan up to that year before the reader, we would be enabled to prove, 
that the state of Illinois, far from being inferior in rapidity of the 
growth of its population, for the last forty years, to the other states, 
is in reality superior not only to them, but also to Michigan. 

Iowa and Wisconsin, which states have also prodigiously advanced, 
could not be well compared with the above states, for the last forty 
years, they being of too recent date. 

Illinois consists of one hundred counties, the population of which, 
for the years 1840, 1850, and 1855, was, respectively, the follow- 
ing : — 



STATISTICS, 221 

counties. 1810. 1850. 1855. 

Adams . 14,476 26,598 34,311 

Alexander 3,313 2,484 2,927 

Bond 5,060 6,144 7,511 

Boone 1,705 7,624 10,994 

Brown 4,183 7,198 7,940 

Bureau 3,067 8,841 19,518 

Calhoun 1,741. 3,231.... 3,768 

Carroll 1,023 4,586 7,610 

Cass. 2,981 7,253 8,946' 

Champaign 1,475 2,649... 6,565 

Christian ; 1,878. 3,203.. 7,041 

Clark 7,453 9,532 13,863 

Clay 3,228. 4,289 7,076 

Clinton 3,718 5,139 6,823 

*Coles 9,616 9,335 14,937 

Cook.. 10,201 43,385 103,960 

Crawford 4,422 7,135 10,152 

Cumberland 3,718 6,099 

DeKalb 1,697 7,540 13,636 

DeWitt 3,247 5,002 8,508 

DuPage..... 3,535 9,290 12,307 

Edgar . 8,225 10,692 13,920 

Edwards 3,070 3,524 4,598 

Effingham 1,675 3,799... 6,226 

Fayette 6,328 8,075 9,592 

Franklin 3,682 5,081 7,182 

Fulton 13,142 22,508 27,968 

*Gallatin 10,760 5,448 6,723 

Greene 11,951 12,429 13,092 

*Grundy 3,023 7,021 

Hamilton 3,945 6,362 7,212 

Hancock 9,946 14,652 22,158 

Hardin 1,378... 2,887- 3,920 

Henderson 4,612 7,128 

Henry 1,260 3,807 9,218 

flroquois 1,695 4,149 6,788 

Jackson 3,566 5,862 7,834' 

Jasper 1,472 3,220 6,842 



* The counties marked * were, during the years 1840 — 1850, subdiyided into new counties. 
T From the counties Will and Iroquois, denoted by f, sections were taken since 1850, and 
made to constitute Kankakee county. 

19* 



222 STATISTICS. 

COirciTiES. 1840. 1850. 1855. 

Jefferson. 5,702 8,100 10,258 

Jersey..... 4,535 7,354 8,771 

Jo Daviess 0,180 18,004 ...., 24,104 

♦Johnson.- 3,020 4,114..... 4,906 

Kane 6,501 10,703 20,005 

Kankakee 10,110 

Kendall — 7,730 10,145 

Knox ■ 7,000 13,279 22,847 

Lake 2,034 14,220 17,030 

*La Salle... 9,348 .. 17,815 35,563 

♦Lawrence 7,092. 6,121 ■. 8,160 

Lee......... 2,035 5,292 11,018 

Livingston. 759... 1,552.. 4,006 

Logan 2,333 5,128 8,324 

McDonough. 5,308 ..... 7,010 12,886 

Mcllenry 2,578 ..... 14,978 ..19,285 

McLean.... 0,565 .. 10,163 19,578 

♦Macon 3,039 3,998 8,365 

Macoupin 7,826 12,355 17,403 

Madison.... 14,433 20,441 31,556 

Marion 4,742 6,720 10,139 

Marshall.... '. 1,849 5,180 9,900 

Mason 5,921 7,775 

Massac 4,092 5,092 

Menard 4,431 6,349 ... 8,029 

Mercer 2,352 5,246 9,660 

Monroe 4,481 .;... 7,629 ............ 10,285 

Montgomery 4,490 0,277 , 9,041 

Morgan ; 19,549 10,064 17,735 

. Moultrie ...... 3,234 4,435 

Ogle 3,479 ;'.;.., 10,120 16,456 

Peoria 6,153 17,547 30,134 

Perry 3,222 5,278 0,858 

Piatt 1,005 3,052 

Pike 11,728 18,819 ., 23,351 

*Pope 4,094 3,975 0,835 

Pulaski 2,265 2,462 

Putnam.... 2,131 3,024 5,100 

Randolph.. 7,944 11,879 12,001 

Richland 4,012 7,049 

Rock Island 2,010 0,937 10,217 

St. Clair 13,031 20,180 28,554 



t STATISTICS. 223 

COUNTIES. 1S40. 1850. 1855. 

Saline 5,588 ,. 6,776 

*Sangamon 14,716 19,224 25,604 

Schuyler 6,972 10,573 , 12,296 

Scott 6,215 7,914 7,937 

*Shelby 6,659 7,807 11,270 

Stark 1,573 3,710 6,293 

Stephenson 2,800 11,666 13,316 

*Tazewell 7,222 12,052 17,371 

Union 5,524 , 7,615 10,106 

Vermillion 9,303 11,492 15,893 

Wabash 4,240 4,692 6,233 

*Warren 6,739 8,176 12,209 

Washington 4,810 6,953 • 10,059 

Wayne 5,133 6,825 9,902 

White , 7,119 8,925 10,387 

Whitesides 2,514 5,361 13,416 

fWill . 10,167 16,703 24,468 

^Williamson 4,457 7,216 9,430 

Winnebago 4,609 11,775 20,826 

Woodford. 4,415 8,400 

Illinois has, besides, a county called Cook county, which numbers 
more than 100,000 inhabitants, and in- which Chicago, that city of 
unparalleled growth, is situated; another county (La Salle), with 
more than 35,000 ; three (Adams, Madison, and Peoria), with from 
30,000 to 35,000; four (Fulton, Kane, St. Clair, Sangamon), with 
from 25,000 to 30,000; six (Hancock, Jo Daviess, Knox, Pike, Will, 
Winnebago), with from 20,000 to 25,000; ten (Bureau, Lake, 
McHenry, McLean, Macoupin; Morgan, Ogle, Rock Island, Tazewell, 
and Vermilion), with from 15,000 to 20,000 ; twenty-four with from 
10,000 to 15,000; forty -two with from 5000 to 10,000: and nine 
with less than 5000 inhabitants. The counties having the fewest 
inhabitants are Pulaski and Alexander, the former with 2462, the 
latter with 2927 inhabitants, contiguous to each other, and being 
situated in the most southern section of the State. 

Id order to enable the reader with one glance to survey the com- 
paratively smaller or greater density of the population of the various 
parts and counties of the State, we here subjoin a population-map of it, 
wherein the counties are marked and designated, the following columns 



224 



STATISTICS. 



corresponding to which contain a statement of the number of inha- 
bitants residing on a geographical square mile in every single county, 
according to the census of the State returned in 1855 : 



1. 


Cook 


2396 


2 




1049 


3 




1031 


A 




937 


5. 


Madison 


918 


6. 


St. Clair 


916 


7. 


McHenry 


878 


8. 


Bock Island .... 


862 


q 




843 


10. 


Winnebago 


830 


n. 


Jo Daviess 


822 


12. 


Morgan 


820 


18 




816 


14. 


Boone 


805 


15. 


.Clark 


782 


16. 


Scott 


782 


17. 


La Salle .... 


714 


18. 


Fulton 


..... 684 


19. 


Wabash 


682 


20. 


Kendall ....:.... 


666 


?1 


Pike 


643 


22. 


Sclruyler 


639 


^8 


Will 


639 


24. 


Du Page 


630 


25. 


Monroe 


628 


26. 


Hancock 


624 


2?. 


Edgar 


588 


28. 


Sangamon 


588 


29. 


Tazewell 


586 


30. 


Brown... 


554 


31. 


Union 


553 


32. 


Jersey 


537 


33. 


Greene 


528 


34. 


Marshall 


526 


35. 


Bandolph 


511 


86 




511 


37. 


Massac 


505 


38. 


Stephenson 


..... 503 


39. 


Crawford 


..... 490 


40. 


Warren 


482 



41. 


McDonough 


..... 475 


42. 


Edwards 


466 


43. 


Williamson 


464 


44. 


Johnson 


456 


45. 


White 


456 


46 


(Me 


452 


47. 


DeKalb 


449 


48. 


Hardin 


..... 447 


49. 


Bureau 


432 


50. 


De Witt 


432 


51. 


Macoupin 


430 


52. 


Coles 


426 


53. 


Menard 


413 


54. 


Henderson 


409 


55. 


Bond 


404 


56. 


Whitesides 


404 


57. 


McLean 


394 


58. 


Kankakee 


..... 386 


59. 


Cumberland 


385 


60 


Pope 


884 


61 




383 


62. 


Saline 


383 


63. 


Stark 


383 


64. 


Jefferson 


379 


65. 


Putnam 


377 


66 




377 


67 




..... 377 


68. 


Marion 


375 


69. 


Mercer 


366 


70. 


Carroll 


362 


71. 


Franklin 


353 


72. 


Hamilton ....... r 


353 


73 


Lee 


349 


74. 


Grundy 


345 


75. 


Woodford... 


341 


76. 


Perry...., 


337 


77. 


Shelby 


33G 


78. 


Gallatin 


330 


79. 


Pulaski.. 


327 


80. 


Macon 


319 



STATISTICS. 



225 



81. Mason 819 

82. Calhoun 315 

83. Clay 313 

84. Clinton 302 

85. Fayette 298 

86. Jasper 292 

87. Wayne 292 

88. Moultrie 292 

89. Logan 290 

90. Jackson 277 



91. Montgomery 273 

92. Alexander 260 

93. Effingham 256 

94. Henry 251 

95. Christian 213 

96. Vermillion 202 

97. Pyatt 164 

98. Champaign 138 

99. Iroquois 134 

100. Livingston 94 



The entire number of dwellings in the State, was, in the year 
1850,* 146,544; the number of families 149,153, with 851,470 
members, 846,104 of whom were whites, and 5,366 free colored per- 
sons. Of the whites 445,644 belonged to the male and 400,460 to 
the female sex; of the colored population 2756 to the male and 2610 
to the female sex. Among the 851,470 inhabitants, there were 475 
deaf and dumb, 257 blind, 249 maniacs, and 571 idiots. . 

Of the inhabitants, ,736,931 were born in the United States, in- 
cluding also the descendants of the earlier European settlers and the 
later immigrants; 110,593 in foreign countries; while the birth-place 
of 3946 could not be ascertained. Of those born in America, 3693 
were from Maine, 4288 from New Hampshire, 1381 from Vermont, 
9230 from Massachusetts, 1051 from Rhode Island, 6899 from 
Connecticut, 67,180 from New York, 6848 from New Jersey, 37,979 
from Pennsylvania, 1397 from Delaware, 6898 from Maryland, 226 
from the District of Columbia, 24,697 from Virginia, 13,851 fro>m 
North Carolina, 4162 from South Carolina, 1341 from Georgia, 23 
from Florida, 1335 from Alabama, 490 from Mississippi, 480 from 
Louisiana, 63 from Texas, 727 from Arkansas, 32,303 from Ten- 



* Owing to the fact, that in the year 1855 an incomplete and very imperfect 
census, which does not enter into details as did the census of 1850, was re- 
turned, most of the amounts coulcl only be stated according to the census of 
1850. Had a complete census, that besides stating the number of inhabitants, 
would have paid due regard to the agricultural, manufacturing, commercial, 
industrial, and social interests of the State, been published, the picture of 
Illinois this book is intended to place before the eyes of the reader, would no 
doubt have been a much more complete one; for in this very period of 
1850-1855, the brilliant progress of Illinois has been such as no former period 
ever witnessed. 

p 



226 STATISTICS. 

nessee, 49,508 from Kentucky, 64,219 from Ohio, 2158 from Mich- 
igan, 30,953 from Indiana, 7288 from Missouri, 1511 from Iowa, 
1095 from Wisconsin, 3 from California, 16 from the Territories, and 
343,618 were natives of Illinois. 

Of those born in foreign countries, 18,628 were natives of England, 
27,786 of Ireland, 4661 of Scotland, 572 of Wales, 38,511 of Ger- 
many, inclusive of Austria, 3396 of France, 70 of Spain, 42 of Por- 
tugal, 33 of Belgium, 220 of Holland, 43 of Italy, 1635 of Switzer- 
land, 27 of Russia, 93 of Denmark, 2415 of Norway, 1123 of 
Sweden, 4 of Greece, 3 of Asia, 11 of Africa, 10,699 of British 
America, 30 of Mexico, 12 of South America, 75 of the West Indies, 
9 of the Sandwich Islands, and 495 from various other countries. 

Farming lands. — In the year 1850, Illinois had 76,208 farms, 
containing 12,037,412 acres, making an average of 158 acres to each 
farm, 5,039,545 of which were improved, and 6,997,867 still unculti- 
vated. The value of these 76,208 farms was estimated at $96,133/290 ; 
hence the average value of each farm was $1261. The value of the 
agricultural implements amounted to $6,405,561. 

The live stock, of cattle, was estimated at $24,209,258 ; of horses, 
$267,653 ; of asses and mules, $10,573 : making an aggregate of 
$278,226, against $199,235 in 1840; of milk cows, $294,671; of 
oxen, $76,156 ; of bulls, heifers, and cattle fit for slaughter, $541,209 ; 
neat cattle in the aggregate, $912,036, against $626,274 in 1840; 
of sheep, $894,043, against $395,672 in 1840; of hogs, $1,915,907, 
against $1,495,254 in 1840. The value of the slaughtered cattle in 
the year 1850, amounted to $4,972,286 ; and the value of the live 
stock of cattle in 1850, to $30,000,000. 

The following were the crops in 1850: — 9,414,575 bushels of 
wheat, against 3,335,393 in the year 1840 ; 83,364 bushels of rye, 
against 88,197 in 1840 ; 10,087,241 bushels of oats, against 4,988,008- 
' in 1840; 57,646,984 bushels of Indian corn, against 22,634,211 in 
1840; 2,514,861 bushels of Irish, and 157,433 bushels of sweet 
potatoes — making an aggregate of 2,672,294 bushels of potatoes, 
against 2,025,520 bushed in 1840; 110,795 bushels of barley, 
against 82,251 in 1840 ; 184,504 bushels of buckwheat, against 
57,884 in 1840; 601,952 tons of hay, against 164,932 in 1840. 
Hence it follows, that of the produce of the fields, rye alone has de- 



STATISTICS. 227 

creased, all the other species of corn having increased, and that wheat 
and Indian corn have advanced by the highest ratio. 

The harvest of 1855 is roughly estimated at 20,000,000 bushels 
of wheat, 20,000,000 bushels of oats, 130,000,000 bushels of Indian 
corn, and 1,000,000 tons of hay. 

Other farm produces in the year 1850, were : — 3551 lbs. of hops, 
against 17,742* in 1810; 3427 lbs. of cloverseed; 14,380 lbs. of 
seeds of other species of grass; 12,526,543 lbs. of butter; 1,278,225 
lbs. of cheese — making an aggregate of 13,804,768 lbs., against 
428,175 lbs. in 1840 ; 82,814 bushels of peas and beans. The value 
of the produce of the market-gardens amounted to $127,494 ; fruitery, 
etc., $1,146,049, against $126,756 in 1840; wax and honey, to 
869,444 lbs., against 29,173 in 1840; articles of produce for domes- 
tic use, to $1,155,902; flaxseed, to 10,787 bushels; flax, to 160,063 
lbs.; maple sugars, to 248,904 lbs.; molasses, to 8,354 gallons; to- 
bacco, to 841,394 lbs., versus 564,326 in 1840; wool, to 2,150,113 
lbs., versus 650,007 in 1840; silk cocoons, to 47 lbs., versus 1150 in 
1840 ; wine, to 2997 gallons, versus 474 in 1840. 

Of manufactories, Illinois, in the year 1850, had 3164 establish- 
ments, doing business with a capital of $6,385,387, consuming 
$8,915,173 worth of raw materials, employing 11,632 men and 433 
women, paying wages to the amount of $3,286,249, and manufac- 
turing goods to the value of $17,236,073. 

Of manufactories of woollen articles, Illinois, in the year 1850, had 
16, operating with a capital of $154,500, Consuming of raw materials 
396,964 lbs. of wool and 987 tons of coal, valued in the aggregate at 
$115,367; employing 124 men and 54 women, and manufacturing 
goods to the value of $206,572. 

Of manufactories of pig iron, there were but two, having a capital 
of $65,000. These consumed 5500 tons of ore, estimated at $15,500, 
and while employing 150 laborers, manufactured 2700 tons of pig 
iron, valued at $70,200. 

* This statement, though, like all the preceding, taken from the United 
States census, appears to us erroneous; for as, daring the last few y 
remarkable increase has taken place, both in the brewing and consumption of 
beer, it seems scarcely credible, that the cultivation of hops should have so 
considerably fallen off. 



228 STATISTICS. 

Of iron foundries, there were 29, doing business with a capital of 
$260,400. These expended $172,330 for 4818 tons of pig iron, 50 
tons of old iron, besides fuel, &c. ; employing 332 laborers, and manu- 
facturing goods to the value of $441,185. 

Of breweries and distilleries, there were 52, having a business 
capital of $303,400, consuming 98,000 bushels of barley, 48,700 
bushels of rye, and 703,500 bushels of Indian corn, occupying 274 
hands, and furnishing a supply of 27,925 barrels of beer, &c, and 
2,315,000 gallons of whiskey, and various other spirits. 

Lastly, Illinois possesses a salt manufactory, operating with a capi- 
tal of $2500, consuming $2000 worth of raw material, employing 3 
hands, and producing 20,000 bushels of salt, estimated at $6000. 

Of churches, there are 1223 in the State, having 486,576 mem- 
bers, and appertaining to the various denominations, as follows : The 
Baptists have 282 churches, with 94,130 members; the Christians, 69 
churches, with 30,864 members; the Congregationalists, 46 churches, 
with 15,626 members ; Dutch Reformed, 2 churches, with 875 mem- 
bers; Episcopalians, 27 churches, with 14,000 members; Free, 2 
churches, with 750 members; Friends, 6 churches, wi'th 1550 mem- 
bers; German Reformed, 3 churches, with 280 members; Lutherans, 
42 churches, with 16,640 menibers; Methodists, 405 churches, with 
178,452 members; Moravians, 2 churches, with 400 members; Pres- 
byterians, 206 churches, with 83,129 members ; Roman Catholics, 59 
churches, with 29,100 members; Swedenborgians, 2 churches, with 
140 members; Tunkers, 4 churches, with 1225 members; Union- 
ists, 30 churches, with 8625 members ; Unitarians, 4 churches, with 
1050 members ; Universalists/ 2 churches, with 2000 members ; 
various other small sects, 25 churches, with 7740 members. Th« 
whole church property amounted to $1,482,182. 

Of places for education there were: — 4052 public schools, with 
4248 teachers, 125,725~ pupils, and a yearly revenue of $349,712;. 
83 academies and private schools, with 160 teachers, 4244 scholars, 
and a yearly income of $40,488; 4 colleges, with 29 professors, and 
223 students. Whole amount of lands appropriated by the Federal 
Government for educational purposes, up to 1st of January, 1854 : 
for schools, 978,755 acres; for universities, 23,040 acres; making 
an aggregate of 1,001,795 acres. 



STATISTICS. 229 

According to the army register for 1851, the militia of Illinois 
numbered 170,359, in all the departments, 4168 of whom were com- 
missioned officers, the residue (165,741) being non-commissioned offi- 
cers, privates, and musicians. Among the commissioned officers there 
were 30 general officers, 79 general staff officers, 1297 field officers, 
and 3192 company officers. 

Of libraries, Illinois, in 1850, possessed 152, with 62,486 volumes, 
33 of which, with 35,982 volumes, were public libraries; 29 school 
libraries, with 5875 volumes; 86 Sunday-school libraries, with 
12,829 volumes ; 4 college libraries, with 7800 volumes. 

In the year 1828, 4 newspapers were edited; in 1840, 52 ; in the 
3'ear 1850, 107 ; among which were 7 monthly and 1 quarterly peri- 
odical. These 107 newspapers, &c, issued, in the year 1850, 
5,102,276 numbers, and may be classified as follows: literary and 
miscellaneous, 22 ; neutral, 1 ; political, 73 ; religious, 8 ; scien- 
tific, 3. 

In 1850, 797 paupers were in the State, who were either wholly 
or to some extent provided for and relieved. 

Of criminals, 316 were condemned during the year expiring June 
1st, 1850; on that day the number of those imprisoned for crime, 
&c, amounted to 252. 

Of the 851,470 inhabitants of the State in 1850, 41,283 were un- 
able to read or write ; 35,336 of these were born in the United States, 
and 5947 in foreign countries; 40,054 of them were whites, to wit : 
16,633 males and 23,421 females; and 1229 were colored people, to 
wit : 605 males and 624 females. 

20 



CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS.* 

Upon looking at the map of the Upper Mississippi, we have before 
us that very extensive net of streams and rivers which is bounded in 
the west, below the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi, by the Ozark 
Mountains, through which the Arkansas and Red Rivers have forced 
their passage; and in the east, by the projecting ridge of the Alleghany 
Mountains. High lands, elevated 2000 feet above the level of the 
sea, divide this district in the north from the Arctic river-district, 
together with which it was undoubtedly covered by a vast sheet of 
water, at an early period of the formation of the earth • the hills sepa- 
rating it fro"m Lake Superior, which is situated 600 feet above the 
level of the sea, do not rise more than 1000 feet above it, and the 
boundary line dividing it from the river-district of the St. Lawrence, 
runs along the shores of the other great lakes. No chain of moun- 

* Dr. Fred. Brendel, of Peoria, to whom we are indebted for many valuable 
contributions to this chapter, has for several years pursued with great zeal the 
study of the natural history of Illinois, and would be very happy, could-he 
meet with fellow-laborers in this work ; for which reason we take the liberty of 
calling the attention of those of our readers, who take an interest in Natural 
Sciences, to the following lines : — 

"A thorough examination of such an extensive State as Illinois, with res- 
pect to all the various branches of natural science, is a difficult undertaking 
for a single man, but might be easily accomplished by a number of scientific 
men, co-operating in the different parts of the country. Meteorological obser- 
vations, catalogues of the plants, animals, and petrifactions found in the vari- 
ous districts, it would be advisable to publish in one annual collective report ; 
specimens contributed from every district would form a State Museum ; and 
naturalists, residing at distances from each other, would much more enhance 
and accelerate the advancement of knowledge by mutual correspondence, 
than by pursuing separate studies, each one for himself. Any person who is 
willing thus to promote the interests of science, will find me ready to assist 
him." Frederick Brendel, M. D., Peoria, Illinois. 

(230) 



CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 231 

tains, therefore, properly speaking, separates in the north this enor- 
mous territory, a small portion of which constitutes the State of Illi- 
nois, from the plateaux projecting to the north, which circumstance 
must necessarily exercise a decisive influence upon the climate of the 
State, situated as it is between the 43d and 37th degrees of north 
latitude, and separated by seven degrees from the Gulf of Mexico. 

A sea open at all times of the year separates Europe from the North 
Pole; and the Mediterranean Sea washes between it and Africa; this 
will sufficiently account for her moderate climate. A frozen region 
sending during winter its icy blasts after the flying sun, bounds Norti. 
America on the north, while her southern coast, penetrated in the sum- 
mer by the almost perpendicular rays of a burning sun, radiates its 
accumulated heat to the north. This will explain why a country 
situated within the same degrees of latitude with Spain and Italy, has 
cold winters and hot summers. 

Illinois has an average temperature, which, if compared with that 
of Europe, equals that of Middle Germany ; its winter is more severe 
than that at Copenhagen, and her summer as warm as those of Milan 
or Palermo. Compared with the other States of the Union, Northern 
Illinois possesses a temperature similar to that of Northern Pennsyl- 
vania or Southern New York, while the temperature of Southern Illi- 
nois will not differ much from that of Kentucky or Virginia. 

As far as we know, exact observations of the state of the weather have 
not yet been published in Illinois ; we, therefore, confine ourselves to 
the observations of the celebrated Dr. Engelmann, at St. Louis, which 
at least serve for one part of Illinois. From his observations of 20 
years we infer, that at a middle height of the barometer, of 29477, 
(105' above the lowest height of water in the Mississippi), the great- 
est difference in a year (1852) amounted to 1" 5'", and that at a mid- 
dle temperature of + 5-4° 8 F. (= + 13° 79 C. = -f 10° 13 E.), 
very great fluctuations prevailed. 

At the coldest day, (Feb. 8, 1835,) the thermometer stood — 25° 
F. (= — 31° 6 C. •= — 25° 3 R.), while during the hottest days in 
July, 1833, '3-1, '38, and '41, and in August, 1834, the mercury indi- 
cated a little more than + 100° F., (= + 38° C. = + 30° R.), 
making a difference of 125° F., (== 69° 4 C. ="55° 5 R.) Very 
great and rapid changes often take place in the temperature ; thus, the 



232 CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 

temperature from the 16th to the 17th day of March, 1852, fell, within 
17 hours, about 51° ¥., (=28° 3 C. = 22° 5 11.) As for the rest, 
the thermometer very rarely falls below F. (= — 17° 7 C. = — 
14° 2 11.); on Jan. 19th, 1852,* the coldest day for 20 consecutive 
years, the mercury ranged — 12° F. (= — 24° 4 C. = — 19° 5 R.) 
The lowest temperature is generally above F., and on an average 
ranges highest in July; then follow June and August; January being 
the coldest month. The first frost generally appears- on the 26th of 
October, the last on the 6th of April, 203 days thus intervening be- 
tween the first frost in autumn and the last in spring. The earliest 
frost appeared on Oct. 4th, 1836, and the latest, May 2d, 1851. f 

The prevailing winds are either western or south-eastern. Storms 
generally come from the west or north-west, in the summer sometimes 
from the south. The severest storms are those coming from the west, 
as, on considering that they traverse the entire space between the 
Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi, within 24 hours, and reach the 
Atlantic coast within the next 24 hours, will be placed beyond a doubt. 
A clear sky and dry air prevail while they sweep over the Mississippi 
Valley, and not before having reached the east, will they be accompa- 

* The winter of 1855-6 alone, which reigned with almost unexampled rigour 
throughout the United States, makes an exception; we here subjoin a report 
of the state of the thermometer on the coldest days of the winter, in the fol- 
owing places in Illinois : — 

On January 4th, 1856, at Aurora, Kane Co., 22 degrees below zero ; at Ster- 
ling, Whiteside Co., 26°; at Dixon, Lee Co., 23°; at Sycamore, Be Kalb Co., 
24°; at Waukegan, Lake Co., 21°; at Moline, Eock Island Co., 18°. On Ja- 
nuary 5th, at Elgin, Kane Co., 26°; at Moline, 14°; January 6th, at Moline, 
30°; January 8th, at Sterling, 21°; at Springfield, Sangamon Co., 20°; at 
Eock Island, 22°; at Bloomington, McLean Co., 18°; at Belvidere, Boone Co., 
22°; at Macomb, McDonough Co., 17°; at Elgin, 18°; at Moline, 20°; at 
Oquawka, Henderson Co., 25°; at Peoria, 14°. January 9th, at Springfield, 
24° ; at Chicago, 24° ; Alton, Madison Co., 22° ; at Aurora, 30° ; at Gcneseo, 
Henry Co., 29°; at Jerseyville, Jersey Co., 20°; at Macomb, 20°; at Mendota, 
La Salle Co., 28° ; at Monmouth, Warren Co., 28° ; at Morris, Grundy Co., 20° ; 
at Paris, Edgar Co., 30° ; at Peoria, 20° ; and at Sterling, 21°. 

f In the summer of 1850, while the temperature of St. Louis ranged very 
high, that of St. Clair Co. was continually lower, by about 2° E., than the for- 
mer, which difference was probably in consequence of the calcareous soil of 
the city. 



CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 233 

niecl with heavy showers of rain; which latter fact we may account for 
by the condensation of the vapours abstracted by them from the Mis- 
sissippi Valley, coming in contact with the Alleghany Mountains. 

Rainy days there were in 1838 but 78; in 1836, however, 115 • 
there are, on an average, 89 in every year, with a quantity of rain 
amounting to 4:2 inches, the smallest portion of which (2") falls in Ja- 
nuary; the quantity of rain falling increasing with every succeeding 
month, until in Juue it reaches the height of 6". More than 4 inches 
of rain fell within 24 hours, June 23, 1852. 

The first fall of snow generally takes place in November, often, 
however, not before December; the last, in March, it occurring but 
very rarely in April. The greatest quantity of snow which fell in a 
single month, (December, 1839, and December, 1846,) amounted to 
scarcely 1" 5. Thunderstorms there were on an average 49 ; beauti- 
ful days, 137 ; changeable days, 180; days without sunshine, 45. 

Upon comparing these results with the observations made in 1852, 
in Wisconsin, at eight different places, the observation made at one of 
:, to wit, at Beloit, near the Illinoisian frontier, half way between 
the Mississippi and Lake Michigan, may be considered as valid for the 
northern part of Illinois also ; we find the thermometer ranging be- 
tween 29-597 and 28*665, being a difference of 0-932, while in the 
south the same amounted to 1-584; an avenge temperature reigns 
there of + 47° 421 F. (= + 8° 1 C. = + 6° 5 R.), being 7° 1 F. (= 
4° C. = 3° 1 R.) less than in the south. On the coldest day the mer- 
cury indicated —18° F. (= —27° 7 C. = — 22° 1 R.), and there- 
fore 6° F., (= 3° 3 C. = 2° 6 R.) less than at the south ; and on the 
hottest day + 93° F. (= + 34° C. = + 27° R.) and therefore only 
2° F. (= 1° 1 C. = 0° 9 R.) less than in the south. Here we must 
remark that the winter at that place was unusually cold. It rained 40 
inches, 2 inches less than at the south, which difference, as already 
observed, was created by a single day's rain. The prevailing winds 
were north-west by north, and south-west. 

From the direction of its hills and rivers, which generally run from 
north-east to south-west, a plain forms, gently sloping to the south- 
west ; in this plain the rivers have worn channels from 60 to 200 feet 
deep ; being dammed up at one side by a terrace-like, rising bank, 
they inundate the opposite plain to a considerable depth, overflowing 
20* 



234 CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 

it from winter to summer, and producing a luxuriant growth of grass; 
causing also the intermittent fever, the principal sickness of the coun- 
try, which, however, only seizes the incautious settler, at places near 
the river j and never, except in very rainy years, visits the settlers on 
the ocean-like, undulating prairies.* 

That the channels have gradually sunken we may distinctly see, on 
the shores of the Upper Mississippi, walls of rock rising perpendicu- 
larly, upon the sloping banks of which extend from Lake Pepin to 
below the junction of the Wisconsin with the Mississippi, as if they 
were walls built of equal height by the hand of men. Wherever the 
river ^describes a curve, walls may be found on the convex side of the 
latter. Here, the force of the river, ere it had yet excavated its chan- 
nel, was broken, and the river, tired of being resisted, turned against 
the other side; not, however, without causing some damage to the 
rock which it washed ; just as at the present day the river may be 
seen undermining its steep, rocky bank, above and below St. Paul, in 
Minnesota. 

The upper coal formation occupies three-fifths of the State; com- 
mencing at 41° 12' north latitude, where, as also along the Mississippi, 
whose banks it touches between the places of junction of the Illinois 
and Missouri Rivers, it is enclosed by a narrow layer of calcareous 
coal. This immense coi 1-field extends south-easterly beyond the Wa- 
bash and Ohio Rivers, far into the States of Kentucky and Ohio. The 
shores of Lake Michigan, and that narrow strip of land, which, com- 
mencing near them, runs along the northern bank of the Illinois, 
towards its south-western bend, until it meets Rock River, at its junc-" 
tion with the Mississippi, belongs to the Devonian system ; the residue 
of the northern territory consists of Silurian strata, which, containing 
the rich lead mines of Galena, in the north-western corner of the 
State, rise at intervals in conical hills, thus giving the landscape a cha- 
racter different from that of the middle or southern portion of the 
State. 

Over these various geological formations, underlaid at intervals by 
beds of sand, a process of putrefaction, which, for thousands of years 

* The attention of those readers wishing more minute information regarding 
the state of health in Illinois, is called to the chapter treating of that subject 
in particular. 



CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 235 

continued uninterrupted, has spread the richest humus, that, rather 
too luxurious for other grains, yields the most abundant harvests of 
Indian corn, the staple commodity of agriculture. 

Remarkable are also those large blocks of granite and other primi- 
tive rocks, which are scattered along the banks. Since the nearest 
beds of primitive rocks first appear in Minnesota, and the northern 
part of Wisconsin, their presence can only be accounted for by 
assuming, that at the time the State of Illinois was covered with wa- 
ter, they were floated down from the north, enclosed and supported by 
masses of ice, which no sooner melted than the rocks sunk to the bot- 
tom, maintaining, as old settlers, their present position, whilst the 
work of excavation of the valleys, ravines, and channels by the water, 
was going on ; whereas the lighter masses of earth, driven down the 
river, were deposited at the southern corner of the State, near the 
mouth of the Ohio, or contributed to* the formation of the Mississippi 
Delta; since, in fact, the later alluvial land of the Lower Mississippi 
Valley reaches up the river to that point. 

On the banks of the Illinois River, the pebbles rounded by the 
water may be found covered with a yellowish crust, as if they were 
baked together. These are the later fresh water calcareous strata, 
continually deposited before our eyes by the water. 

The vegetation of the State forms the connecting link between the 
Elora of the northeastern States, and those of the Upper Missisippi, 
exhibiting, besides the plants common to all States lying between the 
Mississippi and Atlantic Ocean, such as are, properly speaking, natives 
of the western prairies ; not being found east of the Alleghany Moun- 
tains. Immense prairies of grass, interlaced with groves, and stretch- 
ing, principally, along the water-courses, cover two-thirds of the en- 
tire area of the State in the north, while her southern part is garnished 
with tufts of massive thickets, greatly diversifying the otherwise some- 
what monotonous landscape. 

In order to 6btain a view of the variety of the vegetable creation of 
the State, we invite the reader to accompany us N on a summer excur- 
sion. 

The large, scattered, village-like formation of the smaller and middle 
towns, and the want of a pavement, render it possible for us to herb- 
alise in the very town, from the moment we have stepped outside our 



236 CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 

house. Lo ! close to the door is the round-leaved mallow, Malva ro- 
tundifolia, L.), next to it the swine-grass, (Polygonum aviculare, L.), 
here the cass-weed, (Capsella bursa pastoris, Moench), there the pseudo- 
camomile, (Anthemis arvensis, L.), covers entire tracts; a neglected gar- 
den adjoining the house is entirely overspread with the fleshy leaves of 
the purslain, (Portulaca), among which rises the white orache (Cheno- 
podium album, L.), to an unusual height. But do they belong to the 
American, and particularly the Illinoisian Flora ? No, they are immi- 
grants; the vegetable immigration from the old. world.* 

* Whether the various species of a genus are of common origin, and have 
formed themselves under external influences, having sprung from a single in- 
dividual, and spread from a single place of nativity, are questions regarding 
which opinions are divided. Of many cultivated plants in Europe, one could 
not tell whence they came thither, and of many that grow wild, whether they 
occupied their present domicile from primeval times, or only lately emigrated 
to it. That the plants do migrate, nay, that they even leave a country alto- 
gether, when the conditions indispensable to their growth are no longer found 
in the country, has been historically proven. Mr. Fraas, in a little work pub- 
lished in Germany, entitled " The Plant in Time and Climate," (Die Pflanze in 
Zeit und Klima") has quoted from ancient Greek authors many passages men- 
tioning plants of Greece identical with certain ones existing at this present day 
in Germany, which therefore must at that time have been indigenous in the 
Grecian groves, but which have now disappeared together with the groves. 
The wooded country having assumed the character of a mere heath, other 
plants have taken their place, which may also be found in Syria and Egypt, 
whence they probably emigrated into Greece, and being rather remarkable, 
would certainly have been noticed and mentioned by the ancient authors, had 
they existed in Greece. Although the fact of the immigration, which by the 
agency of man took place, of plants from the old to the new continent, is within 
the reach of modern history, so that similar investigations might be instituted 
with the greatest success here, the American botanists have in regard to many 
plants not yet been able to agree, whether they are of native or foreign origin. 
In his " Principles of Geology," Lyon speaks of an old author by the name of 
"Jocelyn," as having drawn up a catalogue of the plants that, since the colo- 
nization of New England, came to these shores. The common nettle (Urtica), 
he says, was the first which the settlers noticed, and the plantain, (Plantago 
major, L.), received the name of the "Englishman's Foot," by the Indians; by 
which the latter understood, that it appeared to have grown up under the very 
footsteps of the English. The total number of those plants was estimated to 
be 22 ; it has, however, enormously increased since. These emigrants have of 
course not spread equally. Thus, although many species have penetrated to 



CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 237 

la the same manner in which the immigrating races of the human 
family do in this country prosper and increase, becoming as numerous 
as the sands on the sea-shore, prosper and grow up also the plants ac- 
companying the immigrant. Thus the rather inodorous thorn-apple 
(Datura stramonium, L.), occupies in our land so large a space as to 
make one doubt, whether it is to be considered a native of the old or new 
world.* And as the immigrant on his arrival finds many a country- 
man whom he is by no means overjoyed to meet again, he salutes on 
the other hand many an old acquaintance among the vegetable world, 
with the exclamation, " You here, too ?" 

Where once the prairie stretched along the banks of the river, 
or skirted the forest, and the wigwam of the Indian was standing, 
there the stately mansions of modern civilisation may now be found — 
and near them many a foreign plant. Brick walls not being congenial 
to them, the flowers of the prairie and forest unfold their charms under 
the airy canopy of heaven ; and the few left behind of the various ver- 
vains (Verbena), ambrosias (Ambrosias), the prickly lidas (Lida spi- 
nosa L.), and the Pennsylvanian polygonies (Polygonum Pennsylvani- 
cum), and others, are peaceable neighbors of the immigrated burdock 
(Arctium lappa, G-aertn.), the so-called " Leonurus cardiaca," the com- 
mon marum (Marubium vulgare, L.), the marsh-mallow of Yincennes 
(Abutilon avicennas, Gaertn.), the yellow lion's mouth (Linaria vulga- 
ris, Mill.), the black mustard (Sinapis nigra, L.), and the rue (Sisym- 

the Mississippi, we have not yet been able to discover in Illinois, that primi- 
tive settler, the nettle (Urtica), nor the knot-grass (Triticum repens), which 
has already become the plagne of the eastern farmer. Most of the herbs 
known to have immigrated are of European origin ; but a few belong to other 
countries, as the prickly amaranth (Amaranthus spinosus, L.), from East India ; 
the Indian eleusine (Eleusine Indica, Gaertn.), a tropical plant, a native proba- 
bly of the West Indies ; the Mexican poppy (Argemone Mexicana, L.), from the 
south-western States ; as also the so called martynia proboscidea, Glox. Whether 
the catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides), which you may frequently find planted in 
the streets, is peculiar to the Southern States, or was introduced by the na- 
tives, remains uncertain. 

* It is singular, that, while the stramonium is sure to be encountered wher- 
ever the white man has fixed his domicile, again, at places where the wigwam 
of the red man is still standing, you would search in vain for this poisonous 
plant ; thus, in a manner is it intimated, that nature's pure state is corrupted 
by civilisation. 



238 CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 

brium officinale, Scop). Unlike their human prototypes, these plants 
do not deny to others, because immigrated, the right of settling at any 
place they may have chosen, but stand peaceably side by side, deriving 
their nourishment from the same parent, imbibing the dew of the hea- 
vens, and enjoying the light equally diffused over them, of the glo- 
rious sun of Deity. 

Before we finally turn our backs on the last scattered houses of the 
city, we find both sides of the road lined with ugly worm-fences, which 
are overtopped by the various species of helianthus (Helianthus), this- 
tles (Cirsium Yirginianum, Mich, and C. altissimum, Spr.), biennial 
gaura (Gaura biennis, L., Greek yoivpa = proud, superb), with the ver- 
milion, and the Illinoisian bell-flower (Campanula Illinoisiensis, Fre- 
sen.), with cerulean blossoms, and other tall weeds. Here may also be 
found the coarse-haired Asclepias tuberosa, L., with fiery-red umbels, 
the strong-scented Monarda fistulosa L. var. mollis, and an umbellife- 
rous plant, the grass-like, spiculated leaves of which recall to mind 
the southern agaves, the eryngo (Eryngium aquaticum, L.) Among 
these untutored children of nature rises the civilised plant, the Indian 
corn, with its stalks nearly twelve feet high, and its green, succu- 
lent leaves and swelling knots. 

Next to Indian corn, wheat is most cultivated ; oats next, and, since, 
in consequence of the extensive German immigration, rye-bread and 
beer are in great demand, also barley anol rye. The broom-corn (Sor- 
ghum saccharatum Pers.), is raised for the manufacturing of brooms. 
Potatoes being a rather expensive luxury, are little cultivated, and 
that little chiefly in the north-western part of the State, near Galena, 
on meagre soil. The sweet potato (the tuber of a convolvulacea, of the 
Batatas edulis, Choisy), the water-melon, sweet melon, various pump- 
kins and tomatoes (Lycopersicum esculentum, Mill.), are common pro- 
ducts of the fields. In the south the castor-oil plant (Bicinus com- 
munis, L.), is also cultivated. 

Having now arrived at the end of the cultivated lands, we enter 
upon the dry prairies extending up the bluffs, where we are saluted 
by the small vermilion sorrel (liumex acetosella, L.), and mouse-ear 
(Myosotis stricta, Link.), which, however, do not reside here as foreign- 
ers, but as natives,* like many other plants that remind the European of 

* Of such plants as are equally diffused over the entire north-temperate 



CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 239 

his native country, as for instance the dandelion (Taraxacum officinale, 
Wig.)> a kind of rose (Rosa lucida), with its sweet-scented blossoms, has 
a great predilection for this dry soil. With surprise we meet here also 
many plants with hairy greenish-gray leaves and stalk-covers; as, for in- 
stance, the Onosmodium melle, Mich., Hieracium longipilurn, Torr., 
Pycnanthemum pilosum, Nutt., Chrysopsis villosa, Nutt., Amorpha ca- 
nescens, Nutt., Daleaalopecuroides, Willd., Tephrosia Yirginiana, Pers., 
Lithospermum canescens, Lehm. ; between which the immigrated mul- 
lein (Verbascum thapsus, L.), may be found. The pebbly fragments of 
the entire slope, which, during spring-time were sparingly covered with 
dwarfish herbs, such as the Androsace occidentalis, Pursh., Draba Caro- 
liniana, Walt., Antennaria plantaginifolia, Hook., plantain (Plantago 
Yirginica, L.), Scutellaria parvula, Mich., are now crowded with plants 
of taller growth and variegated blossoms. Rudbeckia herta, L., with its 
numerous radiating blossoms of a lively yellow colour, and the closely 
allied Echinacea purpurea (Moench), whose long purple rays hang down 
from a ruddy hemispherical disc, are the most remarkable among plants 
belonging to the genus " compositse," which blossom early in summer ; 
in the latter part of summer follow innumerable plants of the different 
species Liatris, Vernonia, Aster, Solidago, Helianthus, &c, Tephrosia 
Yirginiana, Pers., with numerous great pink and yellow-coloured blos- 
soms; the violet Psoralea floribunda, Nutt., and Psor. Onobrychis, 
Nutt. ; Petalostemon violaeeum, Mich., and Petalostemon candidum, 
Mich., belonging all of them to the family of the leguminous plants, 
blossom here, together with the Linum Yirginianum, L., and the Poly- 
gala incarnata, L., with rosy, pretty little blossoms on a tall stalk. 

We approach a sinuous chasm of the bluffs, having better soil and 
underwood, which, thin at first, increases gradually in density. Low 
bushes, hardly a foot high, are formed by the American thistle (Cea- 
nothus Americanus, L), a plant whose leaves were used instead of 
tea, after the English tea had been thrown in the sea, at Boston, dur- 
ing the revolution ; the flower being very beautiful may be used for 
ornamental purposes. Next follow the hazel-bush (Corylus Ameri- 
cana, Walt.), the fiery-red Castilleja coccinea, Spreng., and the yellow 



zone, there are many, especially ranunculos, cruciferoe, aquatic plants of every 
kind, and reed-grasses. 



240 CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 

Canadian lousewort (Pedicularis Canadensis, L.) j the Diptera, canthus 
Strepens Nees (Ruellia, L.), with great blue funnel-shaped blossoms, and 
the Gerardia pedicularia, L., are fond of such places ; and where the 
bushes grow higher, and the Rhus glabra, L., Zanthoxylum Anierica- 
num, Mill., Ptelea trifoliata, L., Staphylea trifolia, L., together with 
Ribes-Rubus Pyrus, dogwood (cornus), and hawthorn (Crataegus), form 
an almost impenetrable thicket, surrounded and garlanded by the 
round-leaved, rough bind-weed (Smilax rotundifolia), and herbacea 
L., Dioscorea villosa, L., the blooming, everywhere-climbing, bristling 
rose (Rosa setigera, L.), the Celastrus scandens, L., remarkable for its 
beautiful red fruits, the Clematis Yirginiana, L., the polygony of the 
brakes (Polygonum dumetorum, L.), the bindweed (Convolvulus pandu- 
ratus, L.), and other vines, these weedy herbs attempt to over-top the 
bushes. Developing their young shoots under the protection of the 
shade, they exert themselves to gain the open air, and unfold in the 
sunshine the splendours of their brilliant blossoms. Baptisia leucan- 
tha, Torr & Gr., with its delicate pale hue, the Canadian tragacanth 
(Astragalus canadensis, L.), which grows to an extraordinary size, the 
goat's beard (Spiraea Arancus, L.), the Canadian elder-bush (Lambucus 
Canadensis), the purple liver-wort (Eupatorium purpureum, L.), and the 
gigantic Compositurae Silphium perfoliatum, L., the Rudbeckia lacini- 
ata, L., Lepachys pinnata, Torr. & Gr., finally the deep blue Tradescan- 
tia Yirginica, L., stand beside the purple swallow-wort (Asclepias pur- 
purascens, L.); and the carmine calix of the Lilium superbum, L., among 
which those beautiful grasses, Melica speciosa, Muhl., Tricuspis sesleri- 
oides, Torr., Stipa Avenacea, L., Andropogon Virginicus, L., elevate 
their heads. 

Having reached the table land, we wander through a little grove, 
consisting of small-sized trees, stunted oak and hickory, which on bet- 
ter soil attain a good height, since in the forests you may find white 
oaks a hundred feet high, and of considerable thickness ; with hickory, 
and maple trees, cotton — poplars, and sycamores 80 feet high, besides 
at least twenty different species of trees, attaining or even surpassing 
the height of 60 feet. 

We now enter upon the illimitable prairie which lies before us; not 
upon that dry sandy prairie, with its temporary herbaceous dress, but 
the fertile prairie, in whose undulating surface the moisture is retained ; 
this waits for cultivation, and will soon be deprived of its flowery attire, 



CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 241 

and bear plain, but for man's nourishment indispensable, grain. Those 
who have not yet seen such a prairie, should not imagine it like a cul- 
tivated meadow, but rather a heaving sea of tall herbs and plants, 
decking it with every variety of colour. 

In the summer the yellow of the large compositse will predominate 
here and there, intermingled with the blue of the tradescantias, the 
fiery red of the lilies (Lilium Philadelphium, and Lilium Canadense, L.), 
the purple of the Phlox glaberrima, L., the white of the Cacalia tube- 
rosa, Nutt., the pepper-wort (Melanthium Yirginicum, L.), and the um- 
belliferous plants. In spring, small sized plants bloom here, such as the 
anemone (Anemone Caroliniana, Walt.), with its blue and white blos- 
soms, the palmated violet (Viola palmata), the ranunculus (Ranunculus 
. fascicularis, Muhl.), which are the first ornament of the prairies in 
spring ; then follow the esculent sea-onion (Scilla esculenta, Ker.), Pen- 
talophus longiflorus, D. C, the grummel (Lithospermum hirtum, 
Lehin.), the Cynthia virginica, Don., Echinacea angustifolia, D. C., and 
Baptisia leucophaea, Nutt. As far as the eye reaches no house nor tree 
can be seen ; but where civilization has come, the farmer has planted 
small rows of the quickly-growing black acacia (Robinia pseudacacia, 
L.), which affords shelter from the sun to his feeding cattle, and fuel for 
his hearth in the winter. We find the greatest prairies in the north- 
eastern part of the State, stretching from the Illinois River to the 
State of Indiana, at intervals intersected by the shaded course of a 
river, but entirely destitute of trees on its highest points, whence 
in all directions flow little brooks to meet the Illinois and Wabash. 

u There one breathes more freely," are the words of an old hunter, 
for whom the daily increasing fences proved too confining; "as far as 
the eye can reach, nothing but the skies and an ocean of grass." 
Taste, however, varying greatly, many would prefer a limited view, 
changing by turns and affording to the eye points of rest ; such a view 
as may be had from Prospect Hill, four miles north of Peoria. Hav- 
ing approached the margin of ihe table-land, we look down upon a de- 
lightful valley, through which flows the Illinois River, enlarged to the 
breadth of a sea. Fifteen miles further up, we perceive the cloud of 
smoke following a steamer sailing upward, and stopping at the white 
houses of yonder little town just built, from which a long railroad train 
hurries across the gently rising prairie, disappearing behind the pro- 
21 Q 



242 CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 

jecting wooded bluff. Bushes rise prominent above the sheet of 
water which inundates the country, adjacent to the other bank, be- 
yond which in the distant background may be seen a cultivated plain, 
destitute of trees, covered with corn fields, which wave around the 
isolated farms enclosed by groves; close to our feet, however, and dis- 
tinctly indicating the broken, rolling formation of the slope, is a vast 
forest, which, assuming in autumn all varieties of colour, from the 
most lively carmine to the darkest green, presents a most striking ap- 
pearance. 

Here in rocky places may be found the Aquilegia Canadensis, L., 
fostered in the gardens of Europe, and remarkable, for its yellow and 
red coloured blossoms, curiously shaped in the form of a bell ; the 
violet wood-sorel (Oxalis violacea, L.), that, together with the Dodeca- 
theon meadia, L., is fond of the prairie ; the well known strawberry 
(Fragaria vescat. and Virginiana, Ehrh.), the Senega milk-tare (Poly- 
gala Senega, L.), the Comandra umbellata, of the order of the santalacese, 
Heuchera Americana, L., one of the few saxifragas growing here, the 
shrub-like Hydrangea arborescens, L., with its white tufts; the Rhus 
aromatica, with its irregularly indented leaves, and scarlet-red fruits, 
flourishing at the feet of old trunks of trees; and various rock cresses. 
On descending below the shadowy canopy of mighty oaks, walnut 
trees, linden, maple, elm, ash, mulberry, sassafras, and chesnut 
trees, we find the ground strewn with beautiful grasses, (belonging to 
the orders of the Muhlenbergia, Grlyceria, Uniola, Leersia, Cinna and 
Panicum), and numerous ferns, among which the pedafce venus grass 
(Adiantum pedatum, L.), excels by its delicate fan-form and purple-black 
stalk, and the Claytonian onoclea (onoclea Claytoniana), Polystichum 
acrostichoides, Schott., and the Pteris aquilina, well known in Ger- 
many by its exuberant growth. Among these rises the Desmodium acu- 
minatum, D. C, on its broad-leaved basis, the rosy-red Paniela, adorned 
with papilionaceous blossoms, together with the tall white anemones 
(Anemone Pennsylvanica, L., and Anemone Yirginiana, L.), the beauti- 
ful blue Delphinium exaltatum, Ait., the American bell-flower, (Campa- 
nula Americana), with long stalks covered with sky-blue blossoms, the 
Aralia racemosa, L., Triosteum perforatum, L., and the Agrimonia Eu- 
patoria, L., are rarely wanting. Following the course of a spring, which 
bubbles down, we find at its margin the Circaca lutetiana, L., also in- 



CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 243 

digenous in Germany, the marsh wolf's milk (Lathyris palustris, L.), the 
asper horse-mint (Stachys aspera, Mich.), the meadow rue (Thalietrum 
Cornuti L.), the clustered rough bind-weed (Smilacina racemosa, Desf.), 
and the high-growing Polvgonatum canaliculatum Pursh. We now 

Co o ^ o 

enter the level part of the forest, which has a rich black soil. Great sar- 
mentous plants climb here up to the tops of the trees, wild grapes, the 
climbing poisonous sumac (Rhus toxicodendron, L., var. radicans), and 
the vine-like quinquefoil (Ampelopsis quinquefolia, Mich.), which 
transforms withered naked trunks into green columns, Tecomaradioans 
Juss (Bignonia, L.), with their brilliant, scarlet, trumpet flowers, are 
the most remarkable. Imposing are also the draperies of the green 
dome of foliage, the contemplation of which delights the eye of the 
spectator; but you would search in vain here for the evergreen pine- 
tree, with its strong smell of resin. The Thuja occidentalis, L., which 
may be met with in European gardens, stands in mournful solitude on 
the margins of pools; here and there an isolated cedar (Juniperus 
Virginiaua, L.), and the low box-tree (Taxus Canadensis), on the rocky 
slopes of the Mississippi Valley, are in Illinois the only representatives 
of the evergreens, forests of which first appear in the northern part of 
Wisconsin and Minnesota. 

Gerardias, with purple and yellow monkey-flowers, Mimulus rin- 
gens, L., and Mimulus alatus, Ait., Chelone glabra, L., Blephilia hir- 
suta, Benth., and the common prunel (Prunella vulgaris, L.), blossom 
here; of the composite, the beautiful Budbeckia triloba, L., excels by 
its black purple disc, and fiery yellow spoke-flowers, and among the 
delicate little plants, the Anychia dichotoma, Mich., Cerastium nutans, 
Baf., Stellaria longifolia, Muhl., and various galia, are deserving of 
particular notice. On wet and shaded places an exuberance of Impa- 
tiens fulva, Nutt. and pallida, Nutt., may be found united with urtica- 
ceas. 

While the forest is resplendent in summer with a dazzling array of 
colours, in spring it is adorned with lovely plants of delicate succulent 
structure. The first child of spring is the blue liverwort (Ilepatica 
triloba., D. C.), which unfolds its brilliant blossoms about the middle of 
March; then follows, on wet places, the buttercup (Caltha palustris, 
L.), and in the midst of April, we see among the naked trees, of which 
the yellow winter-oak (iEsculus flava, Ait.), first shoots forth its leaves, 
a muUitude of most beautiful flowers, most of them of the purest white, 



244 CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 

or imperceptibly changing from white into a tender rose colour, among 
them that lovely anemone-like meadow rue (Thalietrum anemonoides, 
Mich.), the Canadian blood-wort (Sanguinaria canadensis, L.), the 
broad-leaved Podophyllum peltatum, L., the round-leaved Cardamine 
(Cardamina rotundifolia, Mich.), Mitella diphylla, L., the Trillium cer- 
nuum, L., Dicentra canadensis, D. C, a delicate fumariacea, with a flesh- 
coloured stalk, and pale green leaves, which, on account of the peculiar 
form of its blossoms, that in a manner resemble short, spread-out leather 
breeches, is called " Dutchman's breeches," the Dentaria lanciniata 
Muhl., Claytonia Virginica, L., and Ellisia nyctelaea, L. The blue tint 
is peculiar to the Mertensia Virginica D. C., which covers entire wooded 
tracts, the capon's tail,. Polemonia reptans, L., or Polemonia pjlosa 
L., and the crested violet (Viola cucullata, Ait.), the Violet Pedanthus 
hesperides, Torr. & Gr., the red Greranium maculatum,L., the Trillium 
sessile, L., with a brownish flower enclosed in three leaves, the yellow 
ranunculus (Ranunculus repens, L.), Cypripediam pubescens, Willd., 
with pedate flowers, almost two inches long, and the Uvularia grandi- 
flora, Smith. All these species are represented by numerous individ- 
uals. Less frequently are seen the purple violet rag-wort, Orchis spec- 
tabilis, L.), with white labiated flowers, Leontice thalietroides, L., 
Aralia medicinalis, L., &c. 

The trees are also clad in other colours besides green. The inflex- 
ible branches of the Cercis canadensis are covered with peach-coloured 
blossoms, the Pyrus coronaria, L., exhibits rosy-red blossoms, the Sas- 
safras officinale Nees, yellow ones, and different species of hawthorn 
(Oatsegus), and dogwood (Cornu). 

The pawpaw tree (Asimina triloba, Dunal), a small tree, with large 
oval leaves, developes still sooner its brown-red blossoms, and bears 
in autumn great, fleshy, dirty-yellow fruits, which taste like stale 
.dough; the Euonymus atropurpureus Jacq., has smaller, brownish- 
red blossoms. Of large trees, there are also the wild-cherry tree, 
(Oerasus serotina, D. C), the prickly Gleditschia triacanthos L., with 
its fine coronate leaves, and another cisalpinia, the Gymnocladus cana 
densis, Lam., with thick pulpous pods; rarer to be seen is the Virgi- 
nian persimmon (Diospyros Virginiana, L.), whose orange-coloured 
fruits are eatable only after the first frost in late autumn, and the 
Cornus Florida, L., with its great snow-white husks, both of them 



CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 245 

being more frequent in the southern part of the State. On the mar- 
gin of {be forest we also perceive the American plum-tree, a small 
tree bearing an orange-coloured fruit; yonder on the bank of the river 
stand mighty trunks, indigenous to a wet soil, and stretching forth their 
branches far beyond the edge of the water; perhaps the flowery Echino- 
cystis lobata, Torr. & Gr., clasps itself around them ; there you may 
find also the Platanus occidentalis, L., here called sycamore, with its 
glistening bark and deeply-indented leaves, and the Populus monilifera, 
L., called cotton-wood, because its fruits, which are strung together like 
beads, on bursting cover the surrounding earth with its wool-like cap- 
sules. 

Elowers of the most brilliant hues bedeck the rivers' banks ; above 
all the Lobelia cardinalis, L., and the Lobelia syphilitica, of the deep- 
est carmine and cerulean tinge, the yellow Cassia Marilandica, L., 
whose leaves serve for the affusion of the senna, and the delicate 
Cassia chamascrista, L., with sensitive elder-leaves, then the deli- 
cate Rosa blanda, L., a rose without thorns, also the Scrophularia 
nodosa, L. 

The sandy parts of the banks have their own particular Flora. 
Dwarfish cyperoids, and the frequent Mollugo verticillata, L., Lespe- 
deza repens, Torr. & Grr., Eragrostis reptans Nees, Euphorbia maculata 
L., and other creepers partly cover the gravelly sand; among them 
rises the deep-rooted Allionia nyctaginea, Mich., Euphorbia Cyathiphora 
Mich., Darlingtonia brachyloba, D. C, the only species of mimosa, 
Crotalaria sagittalis, L., amsonia salicifoiia Pursh, and Clematis pit- 
cher., Torr. & Gr., with procumbent violet-colored stalks, and thick re- 
flexed tips of the calix, finally, Polanisia graveolens, Raf., an isolated 
apparidacea, of repulsive smell. 

The banks flattening, the marshy ground commences, upon which 
thrive the Iris versicolor, L., Cephalanthus occidentalis, L., Asclepias 
incarnata, L., the primrose-tree (Lysimachia), liver- wort (Eupatoria), 
most frequent, however, are the tall Physostegia Yirginiana, Beuth, 
with rosy-red blossoms, and the Helenium auctumnale, L., in which the 
yellow color predominates. In spring, the dark violet blossom of the 
Amorpha fructicosa, L., diffuses its fragrance. 

Let us now jump in the boat and row to the opposite flat bank, 
21* 



246 CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 

where a branch of the river joins a swamp, and at the end of our ex- 
cursion examine the aquatic vegetation. 

Already where we cannot touch the bottom with the oar, we per- 
ceive a little white flower, waving to and fro, supported by long spiral 
halms between straight grass-like leaves. This is the valisneria spi- 
ralis, L., a remarkable plant, which may also be met with in Southern 
Europe, especially in the canal of Languedoc, and regarding the fruc- 
tification of which different opinions prevail. This plant has two dif- 
ferent blossoms, a male and a female one, the latter are situated on 
spiral pedicals, which, lengthened at the time of blooming, elevate the 
flower above the surface of the water to reach the female blossom with- 
out separating; though this was heretofore supposed, it was believed 
that the male flower, after separating, rose to swim round the female, 
delivering the pollen it was bearing at the time. As, however, no 
such male flower was ever observed to separate and swim freely about, 
but the particles of pollen have been observed, the latter are presumed 
solely to reach the surface and fecundate the female flowers. 

Already, nearer to the land, we observe similar grass-like leaves, 
but with little, yellow, stellated flowers ; these belong to the order of 
the Schollera graminea Willd, which also vegetate on the banks, but 
then in diminished size. Other larger leaves belong to the amphi- 
bious Polygony (polygonium amphibium), and different species of the 
potamogeton, the ears of whose blossoms rise curious above the sur- 
face of the water. We can already look down upon the bottom of the 
river. Ceratophyllum echinatum Gray, predominates ; at intervals cha- 
ras and utriculareas may be found. Clearing our way through a row of 
tall swamp weeds (rye-grass, zizania aquatica, L., rush-grass, Scirpus k- 
eustris, L., Scirpus pungens Vahl.), among which the white flowers of 
the bur reed (Spargauium ramosum Huds., Sagittaria variabilis En- 
gelm.), and Echinodorus subulatus Engelm., are conspicuous, we steer 
into a large inlet entirely covered with the broad leaves of the odorife- 
rous seagarland (Nymphaea odorata, Ait.), but little differing from the 
European water lily, and the Nelumbium luteum, Willd., of which the 
former modestly waves its beautiful flower on the surface of the river, 
whilst the latter, the queen, in fact, of the waters, proudly raises her 
magnificent crown upon a perpendicular foot-stalk j yonder, on the oppo- 
site bank, the evening breeze lifts the triangular leaves, and rosy-red 



CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 247 

ih-mallow (Hibiscus miKtaris Cav.), overhung by 

-> and the silver-leaved maple (Acer dasycarpum, Ehrh., and 

;brum, L.,) on which a -multitude of white herons have alighted. 

m ". s / ■:-:: ce reigns everywhere, scarcely interrupted by a few dra- 

■-.::'■ a '; .-. and over the entire scene the parting sun dif- 

sy, faiut, trembling light. It is a solemn, sublime scene; an 

•: I, within nature's bosom, is an hour of consecration; 

otion. Mature, indeed, is the most 

ne temple of G< L 

t the termination of our excursion, let us throw a glance over the 
whole dder how man turns to advantage the wealt-h of the 

creation. 

: : corn that are cultivated have already been mentioned 

with the exception of a species used for nourishment by the 

is, to wit, the wild maize (Zizania aquatica L.), which has been 

: : L This plant, six feet high, or more, has a panicle but 

male, another above, female Sowers. In autumn, when the 

ripe, the Indian, or rather his squaw, rows in a canoe to 

this aquatic harvest, the tops )i which he bends over the gunwale of 

: rating out the graia with a stick ; the rice is so loosely en- 

I between the bearded husks as to fall out at the slightest puff of 

y .eason whereof this harvest can only be continued for a few 

maturity of the crop. Many prefer this wild to the 

:r;y rice, and cattle feed with avidity on its succulent leaves.* 

timothy grass (phleum pratense L.), was imported almost a cen- 

:rom Europe, and has been cultivated until now, as also the 

merata, L., Poa pratensis, L., Festuca pratensis, Huds., 

European grasses for fodder, for which purpose the indigenous 

3 command an inferior value, with hardly the exception of the 

lensis, Beauv., and several giycerias, one of which 

qs, R. Br., produces the "manna seed/' that is often 

3 with the soup. A gigantic grass attaining the height 

Feet, the Arundinaria macrosperma, Mich., thrives in the south 

im for the potato, to wit: " 
-nd paint themselves yellow 
with the root . L. 



2-18 CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 

on the banks of the Mississippi, and along the Ohio as far as to its 
-Fills, near Louisville, Kentucky. Its stalks are frequently sold for 
fishing-rods in the market. 

The forest furnishes of eatable fruits, strawberries, blackberries, 
raspberries, gooseberries, mulberries, grapes, wild plums and cherries, 
wild apples and hips, the Amelanchier canadensis, Torr. & Gr., the 
persimmon, the pawpaw, hickory, hazel, and walnuts. Many other 
fruits are greedily devoured by " pigs and boys," as Asa Gray re- 
marks, when speaking of the May-apple, the fruit of the Podophyl- 
lum peltatum. 

The sugar maple, besides the sugar gathered from its sap, furnishes 
also firewood of very superior quality; the white oak (Quercus alba L., 
Quercus macrocarpa Mich.), and the hickories, especially Carya alba 
Nutt., and Carya tomentosa Nutt., yield also excellent fuel; the Carya 
amara Nutt., however, to a less degree. 

The bark of the dying oak (Quercus tinctoria, Bartr.), furnishes the 
famous color for the home-made woollen fabrics of the farmer. From 
the wood, which may be easily split, of the Quercus imbricaria Mich., 
with not lobated, but laurel-like, leaves, roof-shingles are made. Oak, 
linden, ash, walnut, cherry, hickory, and maple trees, furnish the wood 
required by wheelwrights and cabinet-makers, for their work; the 
hardest is the iron-wood (Carpiuus Americanus Mich., and Ostrya 
Virginica, Willd.) ; the wood of the sycamore and the cotton-wood is 
almost useless. 

Next follow the plants used for medicinal purposes. It is well 
known, that the medical profession has usurped almost every thing 
having either taste or smell, in the vegetable creation, in order to 
prepare those infallible remedies and specifics, mixtures, pills, and 
drugs, so abundantly praised and recommended in the newspapers, and 
at every street corner; although it can hardly be doubted that they 
prove much more frequently injurious than beneficial, their healing 
properties being at best very indifferent. Too much time would be 
taken up, should we enumerate every herb and root. How many 
emetics besides the phytolacea decandra do they not substitute 
for ipecacuanha ! how many drastics besides the Radix Podophylli 
for jalap ! And what specifics against the bite of serpents, and fevers ! 
We confine ourselves to a few wild growing drugs, most frequently 



CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 249 

met in the trade ; the blood-wort, Sanguinaria canadensis, L. ; milk- 
tare, Polygala senega L. ; Cassia Marilandica L. ; Lobelia inflata L. ; 
Menyanthes trifoliata L. ; Sassafras officinale Nees. We shall, how- 
ever, not exhibit ingratitude towards some popular remedies, whose 
virtues entitle them to mention here, for example, the slippery elm 
(ulmus fulva Mich.), and the oriental, sesame, frequently growing in 
our gardens (sesamum orientale L.); the interior bark of the former 
and the leaves of the latter, maybe recommended as mucilaginous re- 
medies, the latter, especially, for summer complaints ; and an in- 
fusion of water-melon seeds may be drunk in case of dropsy, after inter- 
mitting fevers. 

We shall conclude with the best and most efficient medicinal herb. 
Various species of the vine grow here, they climb the highest trees, 
and separate themselves from the trunk, so that the bunches of grapes 
hang down from the twigs as big as one's arm ; the grapes are small, 
of good flavour, and are much used by housewives for preserves ; if 
cultivated this grape attains a larger size, and is most succulent. The 
American vine, less influenced by the weather than the European, ad- 
mits of more successful cultivation than the latter. The fox-grape 
(Vitis labrusca L.), is the most improvable variety, and furnishes va- 
rious brands; Isabella, &c. The tilling of vines makes rapid progress 
in the Western States, and is already commenced in Illinois. St. 
Clair and Monroe Counties in the south produce an excellent Catawba 
wine, which may be safely compared to good Pthine-wine, and is nearly 
equal in strength to the Hungarian wines. Also in the environs of 
Peoria and Nauvoo, the cultivation of the vine has been commenced, 
and that with a success which bids fair to be lasting. Let us hope, 
that at no distant time many counties of the fertile Prairie State will 
be clothed in the green dress of this noble plant. 

The times have long since passed when herds of buffaloes were feed- 
ing in the prairies of Illinois, and the beaver built her dwellings here, 
and the elk (Elaphus canadensis Kay), bounded through the forests. 
The latter must now be hunted up, far away in Minnesota. The last 
beaver was killed in Wisconsin, in 1819, and the last buffalo (Bison 
Americanus, Gm.), on this side of the Mississippi, was seen in 1832. 
Also the black bear (ursus Americanus Pall.), has become very rare. 
Civilization has driven all these beasts, together with the Indians, to the 



250 CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 

north and west. Nevertheless the hunter cannot complain of want of 
occupation. The largest animal of the forest is the Virginian stag, 
midway in size between the European stag and roe. Of carnivorous 
animals may be found the red fox (Vulpes fulvus Desm.) ; the gray fox 
(Vulpes Virginianus Dekay), the prairie wolf (Canis latrans Say), the 
common wolf (Lupus Occidentalis Richardson), the wild cat (Lyncus 
rufus, Temm,); but scarcely a single specimen of the panther (Felis 
concolorL.); the otter (Lutra Canadensis Sabine), the mink (Putorius 
visor L.), the marten (Mustek Canadensis L.), the pole-cat (Mephitis 
Americana Desm.), the badger (Meles Labradoria Sabine); lastly, the 
raccoon (Procyon lotor, L.), (Waschbar, in German), which can be 
easily tamed, and runs freely about the dwellings; he has received his 
Latin and German names probably on account of his rubbiog every ob- 
ject with his forepaws, and splashing about in the water. That he im- 
merses every morsel of food in the water before devouring it, is a mere 
fable, which, however, may still be found in many treatises on zoology. 
The farmer is his sworn enemy, since the raccoon not only steals away 
his poultry, but entering the maize-fields at a time when the grains are 
just milky, commits great devastation, by spoiling more than twenty 
times the amount he devours. The opossum (Didelphys Virginiana 
Pennant), with his naked rat-like tail, looks extremely ugly, but fur- 
nishes excellent roast-meat, for which reason he is not skinned, but, 
like the hog, dipped in boiling water. This animal brings forth eleven 
young ones, which she carries about in a pouch in her belly. 

We have besides, the red, gray, black, and mottled, together with 
the flying squirrel (Pteromys volucella Harl), the American marmot 
(Arctomys monax Gm.), the muskrat (Fibes Zibethicus L.), and two 
species of rabbits, to wit : Lepus nanus Schreb., and Lepus Americanus 
Erzl.; an infinite number of rats, mice, &c. 

The largest bird of prey is the white-headed eagle (Haliastus leuco- 
cephalus L.), which the Union has chosen for its emblem. With 
his wings spread he measures more than seven feet. The Washing- 
ton eagle (Haliaetus Washingtonii, And.), is by many believed to be 
identical with the white-headed eagle, although, while both head and 
tail of the latter are white, those of the former on the contrary are 
black, and further, while the beak of the white-headed eagle is yellow, 
that of the Washington eagle is of an entirely different dusky hue. 



CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 251 

The Washington eagle is believed first to get the white plumage of his 
head and tail, and his yellow beak when three or four years old, a 
change of colors being not unusual in the case of birds of prey. A 
certain naturalist has embraced this opinion because the birds have 
the same manner of living, and are frequently seen together. They 
subsist like the smaller Pandion Haliaetus, L., on fish. The royal 
eagle (Aquila Chryssetos, L), is said to build its nest here, on high 
trees, in the absence of rocks, as do also from fifteen to twenty smaller 
species of falcons. The only kind of vulture to be met with here (Ca- 
thartes Aura, L.), is called the turkey-buzzard, because of his resem- 
blance to the turkey : he feeds on carrion. 

The larger among the ten or twelve different species of owls are, the 
snowy owl (Lurnia Lyctia, L.), and the great horned owl (Bubo Vir- 
ginianus, Grin.), which last is quite similar to the European eagle-owl. 

Numerous species of smaller birds* belonging to the order of the 
Oscines Clamatores and Scansores, populate the forest and prairie. 

The plumage of many is resplendent with lively colors, thus Pyranga 
rubra, Wils., is scarlet-red, but has black wings; Agelajus Phceniceus, 
L., the notorious corn-thief, better known by the name of blackbird, 
whole swarms of which pounce upon the maize-fields, picking the 
grains out of the germs on the soil, has a shining black hue, but scar- 
let-red wing-shell feathers; the various wood-peckers are most of them 
carmine, black and white ; the Blue Jay (Grarrulus cristatus, L.), and 

* A complete list of all the birds of Illinois lias not yet been compiled ; Mr. 
Lapliam, however, has published such a catalogue for Wisconsin, — which may 
answer for Illinois also — wherein 290 species are enumerated ; to wit : — 
84 different birds of prey ; 9 fowls ; 49 swamp-birds (the Canadian crane, Grus 
Canadensis, is wanting here) ; 50 swimming birds ; 12 climbing birds (to which 
the woodpeckers, parrots, and cuckoos belong) ; 4 clamatores (halcyon, colibri, 
and goat-suckers) ; lastly, 132 warblers, birds, the heads of whose windpipes 
are furnished with the song-muscle apparatus ; though some, like the ravens, 
which belong to this class, are unable to sing. The families of the finches and 
sylviades are most numerously represented by them ; these by 36, those by 33 
species; then follow 14 species of gnat-snappers ; 10 of the throttles, and 10 of 
the starlings ; G of the swallows and vireoninre, respectively ; 5 of the ravens 
and certhiadse ; 3 of the shrikes, and but 2 of the larks and ampelides, re- 
spectively. One of the larks ' Alauda alpestris,' L., maybe met with anywhere 
from Texas to Labrador; the other, Otocoris rufa, And., is more frequently 
seen farther west. 



252 CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 

Sialia Wilsonii, Sw., are beautifully blue — tlie latter has a brownish-red 
breast; Icterus Baltimore, L., which bears a striking resemblance to 
the European oriole, is black and yellow; Sturnella Ludoviciana, L., im- 
properly called tit-lark, has a tawny breast. Of the species Fringilla 
Sylvia, and Muscicapa, there are a great many varieties. The throt- 
tles excel in song; we count eight different species; most worthy of 
mention is the mocking-bird (Mimus polyglottus, Lath.), which closely 
imitates the voice of every other bird. The southern orders of birds 
are represented by single species ; the parrots, by the Psittacus Caro- 
vinensis, Bon. ; the humming-bird, by the Trochilus colubris, L., which 
can be seen every summer, buzzing about the flowers, and is often con- 
founded with a butterfly. 

The hunter takes but little notice of these birds, while looking for 
richer booty, especially in spring and autumn, when the waters are 
crowded with ducks, geese, or other aquatic birds. The duck most 
frequently met, is the so-called Anas Borchas, L., then follows the Anas 
Strepera, L. ; Anas Obscura, Grm. ; A. americana, Gm. ; A. discors, L. ; 
the fen duck (A. crecca, Bon.), the shoveler (A. clypeata, L.), A. acuta, 
L., and the wood-duck (A. sponsa, L.), the most beautiful of them all, 
which lays and sets on trees, remaining here all summer. Of divers, 
there maybe frequently met with the scaup-duck, Fuligula Marila, L., 
Fuligula Yalisneria, Bonap., F. rufitorques, Bon., the red-headed duck, 
(F. ferina, L.), the golden eye L., (F. clangula), the buffalo-headed 
duck, Fuligula albeola, L., and Fuligula glacialis, L. Barer to be seen 
is the Fuligula Iiistrionica, L., and Fuligula rubida, Bon. Of geese 
there are six different species, of which the Canadian goose (Anser Cana. 
densis, L.), the white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons, Bechst), the ring- 
goose (A. berniclea, L.), and the snow-goose (Anser hyperborea, Gm.), 
most frequently occur. 

Of swans we distinguish two different species, Cygnus Americanus, 
And., and Cygnus buccinator, Bich. The mergansers, Mergus mer- 
ganser, L., Mergus serrator, L., and Mergus cucullatus, L., have a very 
fishy taste, and are therefore not eaten. 

Among the marsh birds that can be hunted there are the cranes, 
which are good roasted, and of which there are three species : the Ame- 
rican crane (Grus Americana, Bon.), the Canadian crane (Grus Cana- 
densis, Temm.), and Grus cinerea, L. ; then many gold-breasted trum- 



CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 253 

peters and plovers (Tringa, Charadrino), the common snipe (Seolopax 
Wilsonii, Temm.), and the wood-snipe (Seolopax minor, Bon.) 

In autumn and spring millions of migratory pigeons (Ectopistes mi- 
gratoria, And.), arrive; immediately everybody hurries into the field 
to exact a tribute from the passing flights, so that all day long nothing 
but continuous discharges are heard. Highly interesting is the des- 
cription by Audubon, of the enormous flights, which he observed on 
the Ohio, in the fall of 1813 ; they obscured the day-light, and lasted 
three days without interruption. According to a very moderate esti- 
mate of his, each flight contained the stupendous number of one bil- 
lion, one hundred and fifteen thousand millions, one hundred and thirty- 
six thousand pigeons. These flights caused a general commotion 
among the entire rural population. Desirous of booty, and anxious 
lest their crops should be spoiled, the farmers, arming themselves with 
rifles, clubs, poles, torches, and iron pots filled with sulphur, proceeded 
to the resting places of the birds, in order to shoot the pigeons, or 
knock them down from the trees, or kill them by sulphurous exhala- 
tions, expedients which were rendered necessary by their numbers; 
since the birds were so numerous on the trees that their excrements 
covered the ground several inches deep. The work of slaughter being 
accomplished, everybody sat down amongst mountains of dead pi- 
geons and barrels, busying himself with plucking and salting the birds 
which they selected, abandoning the rest to the foxes, wolves, raccoons, 
opossums, and hogs, whole herds of which were driven to the battle- 
field. Also flocks of eagles, hawks, buzzards, and vultures came 
thither, having scented the prey from afar. 

The turtle-dove (Ectopistes Carolinensis, Aud.), is the permanent 
resident of the forests, as is also the partridge (Ortyx Virginiana, L.), 
and the Tetrao umbell., L. The prairie-fowl (Tetrao cupidus, L.), 
never enters the forest, but stays in the prairies, and approaches in win- 
ter so near to the habitations of man, that it may often be seen sitting 
on the fences.* It is as large as the domestic fowl; the greatest, 
however, among the game-birds is the turkey, the same which can be 

* The sportsman presents a very curious appearance, who, on a fine -win- 
ter's day, when the earth is covered with snow, turns out to shoot wild fowl. 
Dressed entirely in white, with his face also painted white, save two great 
spots below the eyes, which are painted black to absorb the rays of the sun, 

22 



254 CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 

found among the tame poultry, but in a wild state, and always with 
brown-red plumage, playing from one color into another. 

Among the birds not hunted, those worth remarking are the various 
herons, of which the smallest (Ardea exilis, Bon.), measures but one 
foot from the end of his beak to the tip of his tail, and the largest (Ar- 
dea herodias, L.), more than four feet. Besides these, there are the 
Ardea nycticorax, L., also existing in Europe; the freckled heron (Ar- 
dea lentiginosa, Swains.); the Ardea vircocens, L. ; the western heron 
(Ardea occiden talis, And.), the Ardea candidissima, Gmel. ; the Ardea 
egretta, Gmel. The three latter are white. Of pelicans there are 
Phalacrocorax dilophus, Swains., and the Pelicanus Americanus, And., 
Colymbus glacialis, Bon., several gulls and sea-swallows, among which 
is the Sterna hirundo, L., with scarlet-red feet and beak. 

Of the reptilia, numerous species of serpents exist, only three of 
which are venomous, to wit : the striped rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus> 
L.), the prairie rattlesnake, or Massasauga (Crotalophorus tergeminus, 
Say.), and the copper-head (Agkistroton contortrix, Baird & Girard, 
Boa contortrix, L.) The largest snakes are the black serpent (Basca- 
nion constrictor, B. & G., Coluber constrictor, L.), five feet long, and 
the Pituophis malansleucus, Holbr., which measures six feet. 

Among the batraehii, the bull-frog (Rana pipiens), is most deserving 
of notice, who, with his feet spread, attains a length of nearly two feet, 
and raises at night a hideous clamor. The wood-frog (Rana silvatica), 
and the marsh-frog (Rana palustris), are much smaller. Of toads there 
is but one species, the American toad (Bufo Americanus); of green 
frogs, two species, Hyla versicolor, and Hyla lateralis. Of the lizards, 
we notice Triton dorsalis, Necturus lateralis, Ambystoma punctata, and 
Menopoma Alleghaniensis, the greatest species, which often attains the 
length of two feet. Of the numerous Saurii peculiar to the Southern 
States, there are either few or none in Illinois; of turtles, however, 
quite a large number. Of the twenty species which belong to the ge- 
nus of ike fresh-water turtles (Emys), Illinois has several, among 
which are the beautiful Emys picta, and the Chelonura serpentina, 
which presents a grim aspect, and is wont to snap with his sharp beak 
at the intruder. The lower shell of the Cistuda clausa is subdivided 

he manages to advance stealthily within a short distance of the prairie fowls, 
sitting on the hedges. 



CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 255 

into three parts, the anterior as well as the posterior of which it may 
draw up at pleasure, wholly enclosing itself in the shell. The soft- 
shell species, which is often used for soups, belong to the genus 
Trionyx. 

The waters of Illinois teem with fish, but few of which have been 
properly examined or classified. 

The perch (Perca), the Gentrarchus, Pomotis, Pimelodus, Leuciscus, 
salmon (Salmo), Corregonus, Lepidosteus, Pike (Esox), eel (Anguilla), 
tunny-fish (Anica), Noturus and Corvina, are the chief species, the 
largest of which is the Lepidosteus osseus,* here called Alligator gar, 
because of the resemblance of his head to that of the real alligator. 
In the Peoria Lake one was once captured, which was fifteen feet long. 
A singular cartilaginous fish is a species of sturgeon called the paddle- 
fish (Polyodon folium), whose upper gill is horizontally compressed, 
projecting about half the length of the whole body. This fish also at- 
tains a considerable size. 

Besides these the waters contain crabs, and many molluskas ; among 
the snails, the Helicese and Lymneacese predominate; among the 
the shell-fishes, the Najads. 

The greatest variety, however, prevails among the spiders and in- 
sects. Among the Scarabees, the family of the Cerambides has many 
different species excelling by their size and beauty, as, for instance, 
the Clytus pictus, which measures nearly If inches. Another 
Scarabee, belonging to the family of the spring beetles, or Ela- 
terides (Alaus oculatus), is 1J inches in length. We have yet to no- 
tice many beautiful Cicindelas, and the shining lantern-flies, myriads 
of which, in warm summer nights, alight on the flowers, or buzzing 
about, produce the most brilliant illumination of the forest. The sca- 
rabeus first noticed by everybody, is the Ganthon \se\e, which belongs 



* The Ganoides populated the waters in the earliest times of animal forma- 
tion; most of the genus disappeared in the course of time, and are now only 
to he found in a petrified state ; few belong to the present animal creation. 
Of the Holostece, with bony skeletons, the species Lepidosteus and Ami a belong 
to North America ; the Polypterus, however, to Africa. Of the Chondrosteoe, 
with cartilaginous skeletons, the sturgeon (Scaphichynchus platyrhynchus), and 
the paddle fish (Polyodon folium), may be found in the waters of the Missis- 
sippi. 



256 CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 

to the family of the Carabaides; these animals busy themselves with 
removing globules an inch in thickness from the excrements of the 
cows, on the roads, at which work two are invariably engaged, one of 
which, leaning on its fore feet, pushes the load with its hind feet, 
whilst the other climbs the front part of the globule, and draws it 
down by its weight. After depositing their eggs in these globules, 
these ingenious animals bury them on a place where the ground can 
be easily scratched up. The prairie teems with grasshoppers and 
crickets, and many a dwelling is pestered with mill-moths (Blatta). 
The most remarkable species of the Orthopterae is the " wandering 
leaf," (Mantis Carolina), here called " devil's horse," because of its 
adventurous figure. Of the Heteropterse, an insect of the class of the 
Nepides, nearly three inches long, known as the Belostoma grandis, 
which lives in the water, subsisting on small fishes and frogs, deserves 
to be mentioned, as also a small but terrible insect, immense numbers 
of which are found in the beds, the Acanthia lectularia, or bed-bug; 
of the Homopterae, many Cercopedes, and the improperly so-called lo- 
cust. (Cicada septemdecim). The mate of this noxious hardy insect, 
which at first sight resembles a great hornet, and attains the length of 
one and a half inches, deposits her eggs in the fresh twigs of trees, after 
having perforated their bark with her feeling saw. The twig soon 
withers, so that the tops of the trees of entire forests often appear as 
if desolated by fire. Within 52 days, the larva creeps out, falls down 
to the ground, and bores its way through the same to the roots, whose 
sap it greedily sucks, causing new damage even then. After this it 
changes into a chrysalis, that, toward the end of May, leaves the earth, 
so that the empty cases can be seen everywhere on trees and fences. 
In many seasons thousands of this plump animal can be seen flirting 
about, and clinging to the wheat-grains, which it bites off, thus des- 
troying on many a corn-field, the crop which the farmer was all along 
so anxiously expecting. Another sworn enemy of the crops, fortu- 
nately not very frequent here, is the so-called " Hessian fly," a Ceci- 
domyia, of the family of the Tipulidse (class Diptera). To these and 
the Culcides, the various species of the notorious musquitoes belong, 
which, if we are to assume that everything has been created on account 
of man, must have been created to teaze and torment him; but only 
the female is the real tormentor; the male, whom you may easily tell 



CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 257 

by his feathery feelers, is harmless, and never stings. High, airy 
dwellings, are little frequented by these terrible guests, which usually 
visit those which are low, or situated in the vicinity of waters. They 
harass people generally only at night, commissioning the house-fly to 
vex him in day-time. 

On walls and underneath roofs, cells may be frequently seen, con- 
structed of mud, in the same fashion in which bees use to build their 
own — a wasp-like insect, marked black and yellow, flies to and fro, fear- 
less and undisturbed, for it fetches forward the building materials it 
wants without molesting men any further. The posterior part of the 
body is connected by a very long isthmus of muscles with the breast ; 
the name of this industrious little animal is Pelopseus flavipes ; it be- 
longs to the Sphegides (class : Hymenoptera), as also the genera of Am- 
mophila and Pompilus, whose species may often be seen bearing the 
former company. Xylocopa victima, which belongs to the bees, is 
another domestic resident ; she selects wooden buildings, whose frame- 
walls she perforates to deposit her eggs therein ; the honey-bee, how- 
ever, builds her mellifluous cells in hollow trees, to the great joy of 
the raccoon. The nests of the paper-wasps, which belong to the Po- 
listes fuscata, can be often seen on bushes. The greater, hornet-like 
wasp (Yespa maculata), frequently enters houses to hunt after flies. 
Of the ants, the large yellow ones enslave the smaller, black ones, so 
that we can only wonder why the human slave-holders have not yet 
adduced this fact in proof and evidence of slavery being instituted by 
nature herself. • 

Among the Neuropteras, numerous Libellas, part of which are of very 
vivid colors, a light green Hemerobide, and the ephemerides claim our 
attention. In summer, millions of the latter appear suddenly, espe- 
cially in the vicinity of rivers ; on houses, hedges and everywhere, the 
■first dress can be seen hanging, which they cast off in the first night. 
They float about in so dense swarms as to resemble a shower of snow, 
whenever their glassy wings gleam in the sun. Eight or ten days 
after their first appearance they all vanish again. 

We conclude with the Papilios, the most beautiful and most admired 

of all insects, xiraong the Bombicides there is a magnificent Satur- 

nia; among the " Spanners," a light-green Acsena. The genus Papilio 

here has many different species and varieties, among which is the Pa- 

22* a 



258 CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 

pilio turnus, very similar to -his European brother. Of swallow-tails, 
there are a great many varieties ; the yellow color of the one is almost 
entirely superseded by black. Many European species are indigenous 
here, among other, many Vanessa species, the admiral (V. Atalanta), 
the morio (V. Antiopa), the great and small brownish-red Papilio (V. 
polychlorus and V. urticae), and the C. bird (V. C. album). Very 
frequent is the painted lady (V. Cardui), which rocks on flowers in 
all parts of the globe. 

The view of such a Papilio flying from flower to flower, and parad- 
ing in the most magnificent colors, reconciles us with many of its trou- 
blesome fellow-creatures. An image of the fickleness of beauty and 
a symbol of transitoriness, he inculcates high wisdom, and while ex- 
horting us, during the short span' of our mortal life, to enjoy what 
Grod's beautiful world proffers us, he admonishes us that the end of 
our earthly career is not very far off. 



STATE OF HEALTH AND DISEASES. 

When people in the Eastern States speak admiringly of the extra- 
ordinary fertility of the soil of Illinois, they will often add some re- 
mark, expressing their fears in regard to the fever and ague said to 
prevail there, *just as though the state of health in Illinois was so mi- 
serable as to counterbalance all the great advantages that a residence 
in the State offers to the industrious settler. Were this really the 
condition of things, how could the population of the State increase at 
such an enormous rate as it does now, and would not many of the fami- 
lies, after a residence of a few years in Illinois, leave the State in order 
to select a more healthy residence ? Just the contrary is the case, as 
will at once appear from the fact, that the tide of immigration from 
the Eastern States to Illinois, swells enormously every year, and but 
very few families residing in the State are known to remove beyond 
its limits. 

Everybody knows that of all diseases the ague occurs most fre- 
quently in Illinois, but they will know also, that while new ground is 
annually subjugated to culture, the disease is confined to more and 
more narrow limits ; and further, that it depends very much upon the 
particular plan of abode, and manner of living, whether the fever is to 
visit a family or not. Whosoever resides in the bottoms, or close by 
swamps, or in districts where the water — owing to the ground being 
rather too level, cannot rapidly flow off, will be more exposed to the 
fever, than one who resides on the high, rolling prairie. Moreover it 
is perfectly safe to presume that one-half of those who are down with 
this fever, have to ascribe this to nothing but their own imprudence, 
and the use of improper food. 

To the latter cause must be added, drinking of stagnant water, or a 
too immoderate use of fruits, lard, eggs, or fish; and, further, nobody 
should needlessly expose himself to the night air, but live in substan- 
tially-built dwellings and sleep in well-ventilated rooms; wearing by 

(259) 



260 STATE OF HEALTH AND DISEASES. 

day thin clothing, and in the evening, when exposed to the night air, 
warm, thick clothing, and making a fire in the grate, whenever, 
even in the midst of summer, a change of temperature should occur, 
especially when it begins to rain. But few of those strictly following 
these rules, will ever be visited by the fever. 

Mankind would undoubtedly be happy, were there no graver dis- 
eases than fever and ague, which, though disagreeable, are certainly not 
deleterious, much less dangerous. Deaths in consequence of fever 
and ague are nowhere reported, however closely the long lists and bills 
published by the newspapers, of the mortality prevailing in the va- 
rious, most widely separated, cities may be examined. And where 
would the ague not be met with ? the ague, which more or less occurs 
on newly-broken land, or meadows, or lands with a very rich humus, 
from which the golden fruits are gathered that fill the farmers' barns. 
The fever exists as well on the eastern seaboard, and in Europe, as in 
the Western States. Nobody will ever venture to call Hoboken, a 
pretty little city situated opposite New York, a place infected with 
fevers; though many cases of fever occur in those parts of it touching 
on meadowy ground, few of those residing in the vicinity of which, 
along the Hackensfack River, having yet escaped being visited by this 
unwelcome guest, the ague. And on the other side of the ocean, in 
Europe, you will find the ague in the rich low lands of the Vistula, 
the great granary of Prussia, on the marshes of the Oder, and in the 
rich marshy lands of East Frieseland. 

Should this book be doomed to reach the hands of none but those 
residing in Illinois, it would hardly be necessary to say anything con- 
cerning the sanitary condition of the State; every inhabitant being 
from his own experience sufficiently acquainted with it; but as it is 
designed to furnish information of a reliable character to such as intend 
-to seek their homes in Illinois, the state of health of that country can- 
not be passed over in silence. The importance of the question as to 
the salubrity of a country, for those wishing to settle in it, being self- 
evident, we have felt it incumbent upon us to gather the opinions of 
men long resident in the State, and we now submit to the reader, the 
results arrived at by private gentlemen and doctors residing within its 
limits, from many years personal experience ; to which is added the 
testimony of a gentleman from Massachusetts, who travelled through 



STATE OF HEALTH AND DISEASES. 261 

Illinois in every direction, for the purpose of comparing the state of 
her affairs with those of the former. First, however, let us hear the 
doctors. 

Daniel Stabl, M. D., of Quincy, Adams County, a resident of the 
United States for 22 years, and of Illinois for 14 years, a physician 
by profession, writes the following : 

" We have here in autumn, bilious diseases, more or less ; for in- 
stance, the ague, the intermitting, and the properly called bilious fever. 
In very rare cases, however, do these diseases prove dangerous or de- 
leterious ; every new resident of the West acquiring in a short time 
the knowledge of the very simple remedies by which their cure is 
effected. Fifteen or twenty years ago, these diseases, together with 
those always sure to accompany them, the hepatical diseases, hypo- 
chondriasis and jaundice, held such a formidable sway, that they spared 
but very few, especially of the immigrants. But as the land is becom- 
ing subjected to culture, as forests are cleared, and swamps and marshes 
dried up, these diseases more and more rarely occur, so that I now 
only render professional services to one-third of the number of fever- 
patients I formerly had in treatment, some ten or fifteen years ago. 
Diarrhoea prevails to some extent, but always in a mild form, being 
very rarely, if ever, dangerous. Infants suffer in great cities, from the 
" cholera infantum," which disease can nowhere be met with in the 
country; all those diseases, however, which are caused in all other 
countries by the rapid change of temperature, occur also here. 

" Upon comparing the state of health of this country with that of 
Eastern Pennsylvania, of which I was a former resident, I must arrive 
at the conclusion, that we live in a comparatively very salubrious dis» 
trict." 

The following is taken from a letter of Dr. J. G. Zeller, M. D., a 
physician of Springbay, Woodford County. 

" In summer, miasmatical fevers prevail. Those residing along the 
ravines of rivers, or in their valleys, are usually visited by them; some- 
times, also, particularly in a moist spring, the inhabitants of the prai- 
ries suffer from them. In fall and winter, the abdominal typhus fever 
sometimes occurs ; but never the real typhus, properly speaking, as the 
miasma proceeding from morasses appears to be antagonistic to the 
typhus miasma. A regular habit of living can do much against these 



262 STATE OE HEALTH AND DISEASES. 

miasmatical diseases ; and after a sojourn of two years in these regions 
you may consider yourself acclimated." 

T. A. Hoffman, M. D., a physician and resident since 1835, of 
Beardstown, Cass County, communicates the following : 

u The tracts of uncultivated soil at that time, and the superabun- 
dance, especially in the rich bottom lands, of the exuberant vegetation 
wh^ch, if not used, was left to putrefy, caused, as in all western coun- 
tries having a rich humus, intermitting fevers, particularly in fall, 
when the plants cease to perform their office of purifying the air. 
Ever since, however, the plains overgrown with tall grasses, were con- 
verted into fertile, arable land, and the morasses into meadows; whilst 
the stagnating waters were drained off by ditches dug for that purpose, 
the state of health has visibly improved." 

Frederick Brendel, M. D., a physician of Peoria, communicates to 
us as follows : 

" Intermitting fevers are the principal diseases of the country. As 
is the case in Peoria, the malady will remain confined to those por- 
tions of a city stretching along some river, whose opposite bank is 
marshy, while almost all those residing along rivers, both banks of 
which are dry, will be spared. Near houses on the more elevated 
prairies, whose inmates are down with the fever, you will almost al- 
ways discover a pool of stagnating rain-water. Bilious fevers appear 
towards the end of summer, intermitting fevers in September and Oc- 
tober, and in the latter part of autumn, typhus fevers, which, though 
lasting a long time, prove but very rarely dangerous. Diarrhoea also 
prevails. At the time of the raging of that great epidemic, cholera 
appeared here in a mild form ; but in the last years it was chiefly con- 
fined to the immigrants, most of whom brought the disease with them. 
Pulmonary diseases seldom occur; those who came hither afflicted 
with them, manage to live longer than would have been elsewhere the 
case." 

F. Wenzel, M.D., of Belleville, St. Clair County, communicates 
the following : 

"The state of health is everywhere very satisfactory, save in marshy 
districts. The cases of fever, particularly of the intermitting and re- 
mitting bilious fevers decrease in number, from year to year. The 
^ime in which southern Illinois might with propriety be denounced 






STATE OF HEALTH AND DISEASES. 263 

as the fever country, has long passed by. The prairie is healthy. The 
last census of Belleville, and the whole county, exhibits so considerable 
a number of old people, that the state of health must be considered as 
in every respect very excellent. " 

In a letter of Dr. C. Hofman, a physician in Pekin, we notice the 
following : 

"Patients down with intermitting* fevers usually suffer but little; 
they get the fever once or twice, the disease disappearing each time 
before an adequate dietetical treatment, without any serious conse- 
quences; it wiirthen reappear, after the lapse of some two, three, or 
four weeks, to be again expelled by the same treatment. Many ex- 
perience but a single attack, after which they remain exempt for entire 
years. 

" Very grave cases but seldom occur, perhaps only one among a 
hundred. Whenever they occur, they are chiefly the consequence of 
immoderate eating or drinking, incautious exposure during sleep or 
labor, the use, or rather the abuse, of dangerous remedies, and the ne- 
glect of the frequent use of pure cold water. 

u The best preservative is cold water. Every morning, after rising, 
take a cold bath, or if this be inconvenient, wash your whole body 
with cold water; after which, while still jejune, drink a few cups of 
cold water, as also shortly before going to bed ; select for your bed- 
chamber a well ventilated room, in one of the upper stories; and be 
moderate in eating, especially in the use of fruit, bacon, fish, or eggs ; 
all of which directions, if strictly followed, are well calculated to pro T 
tect you from the fever. 

" The best remedy is acid sulphuric Peruvian bark, in doses of 
from 2 to 4 grains, at intervals, till 10, 15, 20 grains are taken. There 
are many nostrums fabricated and sold at wholesale, whose chief sub- 
stance, however, consists of Peruvian bark intermixed with arsenic* 

" So much in regard to the intermitting fevers. 

" With respect to other diseases, Illinois is not worse off than other 
countries, nay, even decidedly far more healthy than many of those 
in which intermitting fevers are less frequently to be encountered. 

* Persons should therefore be very cautious in using such remedies, "whose 
substance has not been accurately ascertained. 



264 STATE OF HEALTH AND DISEASES. 

Tuberculous consumption is extremely rare ; people afflicted with it 
sometimes attain to a very considerable age, provided they came here 
at a not too far advanced stage of the disease, and did not indulge in 
any excesses. Illinois is the veritable paradise for those with tuber- 
culous consumption, being in this respect to America, what Southern 
Italy is to Europe. I have seen men come thither in a very advanced 
stage of consumption, who by prudent habits of living soon stopped 
the further progress of the disease, and increasing in strength and 
corpulence, might deem themselves perfectly cured r A certain Mr. 
Robertson, from Pittsburg, Pa., was sent by his doctor to reside with 
his relatives in Illinois, in the vicinity of Pekin, in order to impede 
the farther advancement of a tubercular disease, with which he had 
already been afflicted for several years. He speedily improved, regain- 
ing his former strength, and becoming more corpulent than ever, and 
exposing himself to all those obnoxious influences, which in other con- 
stitutions superinduce th,e intermitting fever, without ever getting it. 
He then, contrary to the advice of his doctor, returned to Pittsburg. 
The climate of Pittsburg exercising anew its dangerous influence upon 
the disease, he had a relapse, of which he died. Had he remained in 
Illinois, he might have lived some twenty or thirty years longer. 

" During the winter, acute inflammations of the lungs will some- 
times occur, probably in consequence of the keen bis : rush 
wildly over the prairies, without encountering mountains or fore 
break their fury; this malady, however, seldom presents a serious as- 
pect, the patient easily recovering under an appropriate, careful treat- 
ment." 

So far the statements by doctors, residing and practising physic for 
many years in the State, who must, therefore, have an exact know- 
ledge of her sanitary condition j let us now listen to what other gen- 
tlemen, not physicians, but old inhabitants of Illinois, have to commu- 
nicate on the subject. 

Edward Bebb, Esq., of Fountaindale, Winnebago County, in his 
letter, dated January 23, 1856, writes as follows : 

"The country is remarkably healthy; I cannot give you a better 
proof than that we have lived here — a family of seven — since the first 
of August, 1850, and have never had to call in a doctor on profes- 
sional business." 



STATE OP HEALTH AND DISEASES. 265 

John Williams, Esq., of New Albany, Coles County, says in a let- 
ter dated December 23, 1855 : 

" I have never been sick one whole day in thirty years ; and there 
has been but one death in this neighborhood this season." 

A. J. Galloway, Esq., ofEwington, Effingham County, says: 

"There is little disease at any time in the State, which may not be 
traced directly or indirectly, to derangement in the biliary organs, and 
much, of this should no doubt be attributed to the free use of heavy 
bread, strong coffee, a large amount of animal food, and the partial or 
total exclusion of vegetable diet. I think I am free from prejudice 
when I say that, except in the valleys of the larger streams, but more 
especially upon the high, rolling prairies of middle and Northern Illi- 
nois, a more healthy country is not to be found, even in the moun- 
tainous districts of the older States." 

L. Gr. Chase, Esq., of Massachusetts, who travelled for several 
months through Illinois, writes, in a letter dated Pera, Dec. 22, 1855, 
as follows : 

" So far as health is concerned, time will prove that the prairies of 
the West will compare well with any of the Eastern States. Eastern 
people have made a great bugbear of the miasma of the prairies ; but 
if they will turn their attention to the thousands of alder swamps be- 
tween their hills, where the sun and wind are almost strangers, they 
will discover more causes of ill-health concentrated there in a few 
acres, than is scattered over a whole prairie, where the purifying in- 
fluences of the sun and wind have full scope. This season has been 
an unusual unhealthy one for this State, but during the most sickly 
time, I was wandering over the prairies, and saw but few instances 
where the ill-health could not be directly traced to infringements of 
physical laws, either through ignorance or necessity. In some cases 
of chills and fever that have come under my observation, a few out- 
ward applications of soap and water no doubt would have relieved the 
patient. Then again, if the pioneers would eat less pork, and more 
fruit and vegetables, it would be much better for them j and I only 
wonder, all things considered, that there is so much health here, where 
the people are such great sinners in a physical point of view. Pure 
water is an important item in the bill of health, though it is but little 
attended to. People all over the prairies drink surface-water, when 
23 



266 STATE OF HEALTH AND DISEASES. 

by digging or boring, pure water can be had, or what might be still 
better for family use, cisterns can be sunk in the, earth at a trifling 
expense, to save all of the rain-water from buildings. When the new 
settlers get the conveniences of life around them, the prairies will be 
regarded as more healthy than the Eastern States. 

" The fevers of the West will never be a match for the consumption 
of the East." 

In a letter written by Joseph C. Orth, Esq., of McCleary's Bluff, 
Wabash County, we find the following: 

"As to health, I honestly: believe Southern Illinois will compare 
favorably with any portion of the West. That scourge of the north, 
consumption, is almost unknown here. On the rich lowlands, border- 
ing the streams, bilious disorders prevail to some extent, in the fall, 
but on the upland, good health may be enjoyed, with ordinary pru- 
dence. Diseases, the result of miasma, prevail in every new country 
south of the 44th parallel of latitude, when the virgin soil is first 
turned over and exposed to the atmosphere. It was so in the Genesee 
Valley, in New York, and in the Valley of the Miami, in Ohio; and 
it has been so in Illinois; but the country becomes more healthful as 
it grows older. A great deal of ague and fever is attributable to er- 
rors in diet, to imprudent exposures, to uncomfortable dwellings, and 
to the use of well-water where it leaks through the soil, instead of 
flowing through veins in the rock. By occupying comfortable tene- 
ments, avoiding needless exposure, eating suitable food, and using only 
sweet, pure, cistern water, for drinking and culinary purposes, as good 
health may be enjoyed in Southern Illinois as any where in the 
Union." 

Lastly, Edward Harkness, Esq., of South port, a resident in Peoria 
County, for twenty years, communicates the following : 

" Those who have been induced to believe that Illinois is a very 
unhealthy country, would do well to examine the census-tables of 1850, 
and compare the. bills of mortality with those in the States reputed to 
be healthy. I have not now those tables at hand, but? well remember 
that the deaths for one year previous to June, 1850, was a less ratio 
in Illinois than in Massachusetts, and was considerably below the ge- 
neral average in the United States. The facts and figures of the cen- 
sus ought forever to stop the babblings of interested parties, who wish 



STATE OF HEALTH AND DISEASES. 267 

to divert western immigration to some other quarter. But they have 
repeated the falsehood so often, that many of them, no doubt, now 
believe it themselves. What, it may be asked, is there in the soil, 
climate, or habits of the people, to make Illinois an unhealthy coun- 
try ? The land is well drained — we have few pools of stagnant wa- 
ters. The table lands, which comprise at least nine-tenths of the coun- 
try, are high, dry, and fully exposed to the sweep of the wind. Our 
springs break out of the mountain limestone, and above the universal 
layer of stone there is no coal or other mineral deposit. The wells 
are sunk into clay, sand, or gravel, and very seldom reach down to the 
limestone. Hence the water from our wells and springs is very pure 
and good. With plenty of pure air, pure water, and wholesome food, 
is there any good reason why we may not live as long as other people ? 
The only native of mature age, whom I know, is now 44 years old, 6 
feet 1 inch high, and weighs 220 lbs. — is not overburdened with flesh, 
but is lithe, active, and strong. His oldest son is 15 years old, 5 feet 
8 inches in height, weighs 140 lbs., and is a man at most kinds of bu- 
siness. Neither the father, the son, nor the still younger members of 
the family, have ever been seriously ill in their lives. The generation 
which has sprung up in the last twenty years, in this region, bears 
every mark of vigorous health. 

"It is common among persons not very well informed, to think that 
where they happen to live, is a very healthy place, but off somewhere 
else, it is terribly sickly. And here I must be permitted to relate an 
anecdote, by way of illustration : While travelling alopg the national 
road in Indiana, many years ago, I met a moving family; an old man 
with his wife, two married daughters with their husband?, and some 
younger scions of the same stock, making twelve souls in all. They 
had a light wagon, which contained all their worldly goods — this had 
sunk into a deep mud-hole. Their two lean hor&es h'id been down in 
the mire, but had just been unharnessed and got out. One of the 
young men was absent in search of a team to haul out the wagon. 
The women had kindled a fire, were smoking their pipes, and at the 
same time bestowing upon their husbands all the terms of reproach 
they could muster, for bringing them ' from a nice, beautiful country, 
into such a horrible place/ During my stay to help them out of the 
difficulty, my conversation with the old woman was about as follows :' 

R 



268 STATE OF HEALTH AND DISEASES. 

u l You speak of having come from a beautiful country. May I ask 
where you are from V 

Old woman. "''Way down below Norfolk, in old Virginny.' 
" ' Very fine country, that, I am told. Do you have the ague there V 
Old woman. u i Wall, we do have the ager proper bad sometimes, 
and the fever too.' 

i l ' Are you ever troubled there with musquitoes V 
Old woman. " i Yes ! they are bad most all the year/ 
" 'It is a fine place to raise corn, is it not V 

Old ivoman. " ' Wall, when I was young we used to raise pretty 
good corn, but the land is so worn out, we can't get much now/ 
" ' Have you and your family generally enjoyed good health V 
Old woman. " ' La me, no ! we've been sick most half our lives.' 
"The appearance of the whole family testified to the truth of the 
old woman's remark ; for they all looked more like shadowy ghosts, than 
veritable men and women with flesh upon their bones, and blood in 
their veins. Merely because they had encountered a slight difficulty 
in the way, these poor women were abusing their husbands for bring- 
ing them from the most miserable, forsaken spot on the American 
continent. I gave the poor woman and her family all the words of 
encouragement I could muster — the wagon was got out of the mud — 
they went on their way, and I have not since heard from them. But 
from what I know of the history of the class to which they belonged, 
it is fair to presume that these poor creatures have gained their health, 
have gradually surrounded themselves with the comforts of civilized 
life — that their frugal mode of living and habitual industry have 
enabled them, without the exercise of much intellect, gradually to ac- 
cumulate property — that with this accumulation has come a greater 
self-respect, and a disposition to so educate their children as to fit them 
for a higher sphere of usefulness than their fathers were able to occupy. 
Thus it often happens that the grand-children of the poor, degraded 
sand-hillers, when subjected to the vivifying influence of the Free 
West, become men, high-minded, honorable, useful men !" 

Mr. Harkness, in the above passage of his letter, refers, with regard 
to the respective mortality of Illinois and of other States, to the cen- 
sus of 1850. - Page 105 of De Bow's Compendium of the seventh cen- 
sus, contains a review of the deaths which occurred in the single States, 



STATE OP HEALTH AND DISEASES 



269 



and of the ratio they bear to the entire population ; according to which 
Compendium there died of the population 



Of Illinois 1-36 per cent. 

■" Arkansas 144 

" Mississippi 1*44 

" Ohio '. , 1-46 

" Texas 1-46 

" New York 1-47 

" Rhode Island 1-52 

" Kentucky 1-53 

" Connecticut J -56 

" Dist. of Columbia 1-63 

" Maryland . 1-65 

" Missouri 1-80 

" Massachusetts 1-95 

" Louisiana 2-31 



Thus, oi the above enumerated 12 States, in which many of those 
Eastern States are iDcluded that are habitually considered far more 
healthy than the West, as for instance, New York, Rhode Island, Con- 
necticut, and Massachusetts, Illinois at once assumes the first rank in 
point of salubrity; for wherever fewest people die in proportion to the 
entire population, there human life must undoubtedly be considered 
safest from the insidious assaults of disease. 

We cannot conclude this chapter without once more directing the 
attention of the settler to the fact, that pure wholesome water is a most 
important item in the bill of health. He who is no friend of disease, 
should particularly avoid drinking stagnant water. This can be easily 
done, for everywhere throughout the State, at a depth of from twelve 
to twenty-four feet, a large supply of excellent water can be had, and, 
moreover, the digging of a well is neither a very difficult nor expen- 
sive affair. Proper care should be taken to make the well deep enough, 
walling up its inner side with bricks, or blue clay, to the depth of se- 
veral feet below the surface, lest the water on the surface of the ground 
might trickle down in the well, thus wholly frustrating your endea- 
vor to obtain a supply of pure fresh water. Cisterns, if possible, 
should also be sunk to save all of .the rain water from the roofs of the 
buildings; this, if properly filtered, is not noxious, and is readily drunk 
^23* 



270 STATE OF HEALTH AND DISEASES. 

by those accustomed to it. The water of springs, which in many parts 
of the State are very numerous, is of course to be preferred* to all 
others, provided, however, the springs, from which a supply of water 
is to be obtained, do not proceed from sloughs, since the water of such 
springs or rivulets is exceedingly unwholesome. 



THE PKA1RIES, 

The most remarkable and striking feature, distinguishing the Stato 
of Illinois from the other States of the Union, consists in her extensive 
prairies, which, covered with a luxuriant growth of grass, and forming 
excellent natural meadows, by reason of which circumstance they re- 
ceived their present name from the earlier French settlers, commence 
on a comparatively small scale, near Lake Erie, and occupy the chief 
part of the land about Lake Michigan, the upper Wabash, and the Il- 
linois, predominating in the vicinity of the Mississippi; so that this 
entire region is, properly speaking, nothing but a vast prairie, inter- 
sected by strips of woods, chiefly confined to the banks and the valleys 
of the rivers. The prairies are characterized by the absence of timber ; 
they present, in other respects, the same varieties of soil and surface 
that are found elsewhere ; some extend in immense level plains, others 
are rolling, others again broken by hills, while nearly all of them pos- 
sess an inexhaustible fertility, and but few are sterile. 

The prairies of Illinois may be divided into three classes : the allu- 
vial, or wet, the dry, or undulating, and the bushy. 

Those denominated alluvial, or wet prairies, are generally on the 
banks of the rivers, though sometimes at a distance from them ; their 
soil, consisting of a deep stratum of alluvial land upon clayish ground, 
is black* friable, and of unsurpassed fertility, admirably adapted to the 
culture of Indian corn and wheat, and even of grapes, as may be judged 
from the specimens of wild grapes, which in these prairies exhibit a 
very luxuriant growth, and from the results hitherto known attending 
the attempts at vine culture, made in several parts of the State. 

The dry or undulating prairies have but few springs. In general, 

the undulations are so slight, that if it were not for the ravines made 

by freshets, one might suppose that there was no inclination at all. 

Their fertility varies greatly, the prairie being in general considered 

the more productive, the more undulating its surface. 

(271) 



272 THE PRAIRIES. 

The bushy prairies have an abundant supply of wholesome water, 
and are covered with hazel and furze bushes, together with small sas- 
safras shrubs, interspersed with grape-vines. Many species of garden- 
sage, mug-wort, dogwood, and an exhaustless variety and exuberance 
of gay, herbaceous plants, also grow on these prairies. Early in 
March the forests begin to blossom — the Loncera Flava, L., or yellow- 
flowered honeysuckle, and the Jasminum fructicans, or yellow jasmine, 
diffuse their delicious fragrance through the air, while the red-tufts of 
the Judas-tree (Cereis Canadensis), unfold their brilliant charms to 
the eye of the admiring lover of nature. 

Of the prairies, the following lines by Captain Basil Hall, an intel- 
ligent English traveller, are highly descriptive : . 

" The charm of a prairie consists in its extension — its green, flowery 
carpet, its undulating surface, and the skirt of forest whereby it is 
surrounded ; the latter feature being of all others the most significant 
and expressive, since it characterizes the landscape, and defines the 
form and boundary of the plain. If the prairie is little,- its greatest 
beauty consists in the vicinity of the encompassing edge of forests, 
which may be compared to the shores of a lake, being intersected with 
many deep, inward bends, as so many inlets, and at intervals project- 
ing very far, not unlike a promontory, or protruding arm of land. 
These projections sometimes so closely approach each other, that the 
traveller passing through between them, may be said to walk in the 
midst of an alley overshadowed by the forest, before he enters again 
upon another broad prairie. Where the plain is extensive, the deline- 
ations of the forest in the far background appear as would a misty 
coast at some distance upon the ocean. The eye sometimes surveys 
the green prairie without discovering on the illimitable plain a tree or 
bush, or any other object, save the wilderness of flowers and grass, 
while on other occasions the view is enlivened by the groves dispersed 
like islands over the plain, or by a solitary tree rising above the wil- 
derness. The resemblance to the sea which some of these prairies ex- 
hibited, was really most striking. I had heard of this before, but al- 
ways supposed the account exaggerated. There is one spot in parti- 
cular, near the middle of the Grand Prairie, if I recollect rightly, where 
the ground happened to be of the rolling character above alluded to, 
and where, excepting in the article of color, and that was not widely 



THE PRAIRIES. 273 

different from the tinge of some seas, the similarity was so striking, 
that L almost forgot where I was. This deception was heightened by 
a circumstance which I had often heard mentioned, but the force of 
which perhaps none but a seaman could fully estimate; I mean the 
appearance of the distant insulated trees as they gradually rose above 
the horizon, or receded from our view. They were so exactly like 
strange sails bearing in sight, that I am sure, if two or three sailors 
had been present, they would almost have agreed as to what canvass 
those magical vessels were carrying. Of one they would all have said, 
" Oh ! she is going nearly before the wind, with top-gallant studding- 
sails set." Of another, "she has got her canvass hauled up, and is 
going by the wind." And of a third they might say, " she is cer- 
tainly standing toward us, but what sail she has set is not quite clear." 
In spring, when the young grass has just clothed the soil with a 
soddy carpet of the most delicate green, but especially when the sun, 
rising behind a distant elevation of the ground, its rays are reflected 
by myriads of dew drops, a more pleasing and more eye-benefitting 
view cannot be imagined. You see the fallow deer quietly feeding on 
the herbage; the bee flies humming through the air; the wolf, with 
lowered tail, sneaks away to its distant lair, with the timorous pace of 
a creature only too well conscious of having disturbed the peace of na- 
ture ; prairie-fowls, either in entire tribes, like our own domestic fowls, 
or in couples, cover the surface; the males rambling, and, like turkeys 
or peacocks, inflating their plumage, make the air resound with a 
drawled, loud, and melancholy cry, resembling the cooing of a wood- 
pigeon, or still more, the sound produced by rapidly rubbing a tam- 
bourine with the finger. The multitude of these birds is so surpris- 
ingly great, as to have occasioned the proverbial phrase, " that if a set- 
tler on the prairie expresses a desire for a dish of omelets, his wife 
will walk out at night and place her bonnet on the open ground, to 
find it full of eggs on her return next morning." The plain is lite- 
rally covered with them in every direction, and if a heavy fall of suow 
had driven them from the ground, I could see myriads of them clus 
tered around the tops of the trees skirting the prairie. They do not 
migrate, even after the prairie is already settled, but remain in the 
high grass, near the newly-established farms; and I often saw them at 
no great distance from human habitations, familiarly mingle with the 



274 THE PRAIRIES. 

poultry of the settlers. They can be easily captured and fed, and I 
doubt not but they can be easily tamed. 

On turning from the verdant plain to the forests or groups of high- 
grown timber, the eye, at the said season, will find them clad also in 
the most lively colors. The rich under- and brushwood stands out in 
full blossom. The andromedeas, the dogwood, the wood-apple, the 
wild plum and cherry, grow exuberantly on rich soil, and the invisible 
blossom of the wild vine impregnates the air with its delicious perfume. 
The variety of the wild fruit-trees, and of blooming bushes, is so great, 
and so immense the abundance of the blossoms they are covered with, 
that the branches seem to break down under their weight, and the eye 
of the spectator comes very near being over satiated. 

The delightful aspect of the prairie, its amenities, and the absence 
of that sombre awe inspired by forests, contributes to forcing away that 
sentiment of loneliness, which usually steals upon the mind of the soli- 
tary wanderer in the wilderness, for although he espies no habitation, 
and sees no human being, and knows himself to be far off from every 
settlement of man, he can scarcely defend himself from believing, that 
he is travelling through a landscape- embellished by human art. The 
flowers are so delicate and elegant as apparently to be distributed for 
mere ornament over the plain, the groves and groups of trees seem to 
be dispersed over the prairie to enliven the landscape, and we can 
scarcely get rid of the impression invading our imagination, of the 
whole scene being flung out and created for the satisfaction of the sen- 
timent of beauty in refined men. The similarity of the whole fre- 
quently reminds the Englishman of the extensive parks of the great 
aristocratical palaces he used to admire in his country ; the grass plots, 
the shaded walks, groves and bushes, produced there by a designing 
art, nature has spontaneously created here; and nothing but proud 
structures of lordly mansions, and the view of distant towns or vil- 
lages are wanting, to make the resemblance complete." 

In the summer the prairie is covered with tall grass, which is coarse 
in appearance, and soon assumes a yellow color, waving in the wind 
like a ripe crop of corn. In the early stages of its growth, it resera 
bles young wheat; and in this state furnishes such rich and succulent 
food for cattle, that the latter choose it often in preference to wheat, it 
being, no doubt, a very congenial fodder to them, since it is impos • 



THE PRAIRIES. 275 

sible to conceive of better butter than is made while the grass is in 
this stage. On the lower, humid prairies, where the clayey stratum 
lies close to the surface, the middle or principal stalk of the grass, 
bearing the seed, grows very thick, having long and coarse leaves, and 
attaining a height of nine feet, so that the traveller on horseback will 

CO / 

frequently find it higher than his head. Although the plants are very 
numerous, and stand alone by each other, they seem to grow up each 
one by .itself, the whole effort of vegetation tending upward. On the 
undulating prairies the grass i ! i finer, and exhibits more leaves, its roots 
are interlaced so as to form a compact mass, and its leaves spread in a 
dense sod, which rarely exceeds the height of 18 inches, until late in 
the season, when the seed-p/alk shoots up. 

In the earliest stages of its growth, the grass is interspersed with 
]ittle flowers, the violet, the strawberry-blossom, and others of the most 
delicate structure. When the grass grows higher, these disappear, and 
taller flowers, displaying more lively colors, take their place; and still 
later a series of still higher but less delicately formed flowers appears 
on the surface. While the grass is green, these beautiful plains are 
adorned with every imaginable variety of color. It is impossible to 
conceive of a greater diversity, or discover a predominating color, save 
the green, which forms a beautiful dead color, relieving the splendor 
of the others. In the summer, the plants grow taller, and the colors 
more lively; in the autumn another generation of flowers arises, which 
possesses less clearness and variety of color, and less fragrancy. In 
the winter, the prairie presents a melancholy aspect. Often the fire, 
which the hunters annually send over the prairies, in order to dislodge 
the game, will destroy the entire vegetation, giving to the soil a uni- 
form black appearance, like that of a vast plain of charcoal; then the 
wind sweeping over the prairie, will find nothing which it might put 
in motion, no leaves which it might disperse, no halms which it might 
shake. No sooner does the snow commence to fall, than the animals, 
unless already before frightened away by the fire, retire into the forests, 
wben the most dreary, oppressive solitude, will reign on the burnt 
prairies, which often occupy many square miles of territory. 

In the southern part of the State, the prairies are comparatively 
small, varying in size from those of several miles in width and length 
to those which contain only a few acres. Here many flowery prairies 



276 THE PRAIRIES. 

may be found, presenting a spectacle of unrivalled splendor. A rich 
soil is covered with innumerable turnsols (Heliantbus tuberosus), great 
euphorbias, and purple lupines, intertwined with the rosy blossoms of 
the wild mallow, and the brilliant orange-tawny vermilion poppy, while 
the ground is literally crowded with beautiful violets. The traveller 
on horseback then looks down upon a sea of flowers, over which float 
thousands of the most sumptuously colored papilios and scarabees, with 
the many variegated buzzing insects, while he is nearly overpowered 
by the penetrating, delicious perfume, with which the immense multi- 
tude of blossoms impregnate the air. 

In the north the prairies widen, and frequently extend from six to 
twelve miles in width, intersected in every direction by groups of fo- 
rests and woods, alternately advancing into. and receding from the 
prairie towards the water courses, the banks of which are usually to be 
found lined with timber, principally of magnificent growth. Between 
these rivers, in many instances, are groves of timber containing from 
100 to 2000 acres, in the midst of the prairie, like islands in the sea, 
this being a common feature of the country between Lake Michigan 
and the Sangamon Kiver, and the northern parts of the State. 

As to the origin of the prairie-lands, various speculations have been 
indulged, giving rise to a diversity of opinions, the least tenable of 
which is that, according to which stately forests once covered these 
■plains, afterwards being destroyed by fire ; for nothing is better esta- 
blished than the fact, that the travellers who first entered upon these 
plains, 200 years ago, and gave them their present name, found them 
destitute of woods and forests ; and, moreover, evidence may be adduced 
to the effect of showing, that wherever those dangerous enemies of the 
forests, the Indians and buffaloes, were expelled, and the settlers com 
inenced planting trees, as well as in the vicinity of extensive inhabited 
tracts, the grass will at once recede, giving free scope for the forest to 
develope itself. In proof of our position, that these prairies were not 
formerly covered by forests, we may also refer to the immense savan- 
nahs and Llanos of South America and Middle Africa, where traces of 
former forests have yet to be discovered. Thus the late distinguished 
English traveller, Mungo Park, speaks of the plains of Mandingo, in 
"Western Africa, as having probably existed there since the earliest 
times; he also describes their annual burning in the same manner in 



THE PRAIRIES. 277 

which that of the prairies in the Western States would be described 
now; the practice there, according to his account, being attended with 
the same results as here, the country there being also within a short 
time covered with a luxuriant growth of young and tender grass, on 
which the cattle feed with avidity. 

According to another opinion, the truth of which is highly probable, 
the level surface of the State of Illinois was formed by inundations. 
The whole of the State, from a few miles north of the Ohio, where the 
prairies commence, affords tolerably conclusive evidence of having been 
once covered with water, which, having forced itself a passage, whereby 
it was drained off, the ground was left with a rich, soft, muddy, level 
surface, much of which was afterwards successively worn off by waters 
formed from the effect of rain ; whence it will not be difficult to ac- 
count for the greater dryness of the more elevated undulating prairie 
lands. 

From whatever cause the prairies took their origin, they are no 
doubt perpetuated by the annual fires that have swept over them, from 
an era probably long anterior to the earliest records of history, and 
still often continue, lit by the hunters, in order to frighten and bewil- 
der the game that bounds over these prairies, and thus render them 
an easy prey, or to replace the old grass by a luxuriant growth of ten- 
der herbage, which might serve as nourishment for the deer. Where 
the soil is too wet to produce a heavy annual growth of grass sufficient 
to sustain a strong fire, there is no prairie. Forests prevail along the 
streams, and in other places where vegetation does not suffer from the 
drought of the latter part of summer and early autumn, and, therefore, 
is less combustible than in the open plains. And the prairies them- 
selves, wherever they do predominate, as will be found invariably the 
case on dry level regions, exposed to the heat of the sun, may be easily 
converted into wooded land, by destroying with the plough the tough 
sward which has formed itself on them. There are large tracts of 
country, where a number of years ago the farmers mowed their 
hay, that are now covered with a forest of young, rapidly-growing 
timber. 

As soon as the prairies are ploughed, and the heavy grass kept un- 
der, timber or orchard trees, when planted in them, will grow with 
unexampled luxuriance. A resident of Adams County testifies to the 
24 



278 THE PRAIRIES. 

effect, that locust trees planted, or rather sown, on prairie land near 
Quinoy, attained in four years a height of twenty-five feet, and their 
trunk a diameter of from four to five inches ; these grew in closely 
crowded rows, affording a dense shade. In a few instances, where the 
same kind of trees had been planted in a more open manner, they 
grew in the same period to a thickness of six inches, and in from 
seven to ten years from their planting, have been known to attain suf- 
ficient bulk to make posts and rails. In a like manner, the uplands 
of St. Louis, which were, in 1823, principally prairie lands, are now 
covered with a young growth of fine and thrifty timber, so that it 
would be difficult to find an acre of prairie in the county. 

The first efforts to convert prairies into forest land, were usually 
made on the part of the prairie adjoining to the timber. A range of 
farms, which girded the entire prairie along its circumference, having 
been established, three furrows were ploughed all round the settle- 
ments, in order to stop the burning of the prairies, for the whole dis- 
tance of the circuit in the neighborhood of these farms, and prevent 
injury to the fences and other improvements; whereupon the timber 
quickly grows up spontaneously on all the parts not burnt, the groves 
and forests commencing a gradual encroachment on the adjoining prai- 
ries, so that one after another concentric circle springs up inside of the 
preceding, and thus the entire prairie is steadily narrowed from all 
sides, until it is finally occupied, forming a vast region covered with 
timber and farms. 

Such a prairie-farm is always conducted on a magnificent scale. The 
fences, if any there are, do not cut it up in little acre patches, but di- 
vide it into large squares. The sight of such a farm on a rolling prai- 
rie, partly in grass, partly in corn, partly in grain and garden vegeta- 
bles, as the sun chases over it the cloudy shadows, and the light breeze 
waves the distant grove, to a lover of the beautiful is perfectly en- 
chanting. 

Early in the morning, when a mist is on the ground, the fog ap- 
pears all around the edge of the timber in the prairies, rendering at 
times the residence on the circuit of the prairie less healthy than that 
on the middle or highest part, which latter is also connected with an- 
other advantage, to wit: the facility with w r hich excellent water is pro- 



THE PRAIRIES. 279 

cured, at a depth of 15 feet, whereas, along the borders of the timber, 
the common depth of the wells is 40 feet. 

Let it not be supposed, that life on these boundless regions is mo- 
notonous and dreary, for nowhere does nature sit more majestically 
enthroned, overawing man by the terrible grandeur of her phenomena, 
than on these immense prairies. What can be more beautiful and 
charming than a summer's day — what more sublime and terrific than 
a thunder-storm, on these plains ? — what language can convey the 
faintest idea of the splendor of their conflagration ? And even when 
stern winter has thrown her snow-white mantle over the earth, and 
the silence of death seems to reign over the far-reaching waste, the ap- 
parent illimitation of which deeply impresses the mind of the specta- 
tor with the idea of the infinite Being ruling the universe, then the 
prairie presents a truly magnificent aspect, amply compensating for the 
hardships of an icy journey. Yielding to our entreaties, an experi- 
enced traveller, several spirited letters regarding his journey, written 
by whom, appeared under the title "A Rambler in the West/' in the 
columns of the Pennsylvania Inquirer and Daily Courier, thus de- 
picts in lively colors, the events of his seemingly rather dangerous 
journey : 

" 'Now sharp Boreas blows abroad, and brings 
The dreary winter on his frozen wings ; 
Beneath the low-hung clouds, the sheets of snow 
Descend, and whiten all the fields below.' 

" Such was the burden of my song, when I awoke from a most re- 
freshing slumber, and saw large white flakes descending, and the whole 
country covered with the snowy garb of winter. It is oft-times a very 
pleasant employment to watch the progress of a snow-storm, but then 
you must be sheltered from its violence ; for I assure you you cannot at 
all sentimentalize when you are breasting its fury, and have a long and 
dreary journey before you. However, this morning I was in a pecu- 
liarly good humor, and disregarding the solicitations of my friends, 
who begged me to remain until the storm had abated, I determined 
to resume' my journey. Soon the merry jingle of the sleigh-bells an- 
nounced to me that my vehicle was at the door of my friend's hospi- 
table mansion — into it I sprung with joyous gayety, and away we flew 
over the broad and boundless prairies. My noble steed seemed to feel 



280 THE PRAIRIES. 

a new excitement; as he inhaled the fresh morning breeze, which lent 
life and vigor to every nerve. 

"A prairie is most beautiful in the spring time of year, for then it 
is a garden, formed and cultivated by nature's hand, where spring the 
clustering flowers which bloom in rich luxuriance, and shed their fra- 
grance on the desert air. But when winter binds land and stream in 
icy fetters, then a prairie is a spectacle grand and sublime, and will 
well repay for the privations of western travelling. I was compelled, 
however, to ride against the wind, which whistled around and blew 
directly in my face. So violent was the storm, that I was almost 
blinded by the thick flakes that were dashed directly in my eyes. Had 
I acted with prudence, I should have discontinued my journey, and 
made myself comfortable for the remainder of the day, at the log hut 
where I dined — but I determined, in spite of wind and weather, to 
reach Peoria by night. Whilst progressing quietly on my way, gray 
twilight extended her evening shades on earth. Still I drove on, anx- 
ious to reach my point of destination. Not a single star peeped out 
from the heavens to shed its light on a benighted traveller. The 
storm increased in violence, and the cold winds whistled a wintry tune. 
I now found I had strayed from the road, and here was I on a broad 
prairie, without mark or mound; and had lost the track, which was, 
ere now, covered by the falling snow. 

" Unfortunately, I had left my compass behind, and now I was on 
a broad sea without a chart or compass, and without one stray light in 
the heavens, whereby to direct my course. The mariner, when tossed 
upon the billows of the stormy ocean, has at least the satisfaction of 
knowing where he is, for the needle will always point to the pole, and 
his chart will tell him of the dangers in his path ; but the weary tra- 
veller, who has lost his way on a prairie, is on a boundless sea, where 
he cannot even tell the direction he is pursuing; for oft times he will 
travel hour after hour and still remain at nearly the same point from 
which he started. Had even one accommodating star beamed in the 
heavens, I should not have been the least disconcerted, for then I 
could have some object whereby to guide my steps. But all the ele- 
ments combined against me, and I assure you my feelings were by no 
means comfortable. Memory ran over the sad history of the nume- 
rous travellers who had been overtaken by night, and been buried iu 



THE PRAIRIES. 281 

the falling snow : many who had started in the morning full of gay 
hopes and buoyant anticipations, who, ere another sun had risen, had 
found a cold and solitary grave — arrested in their course by the chill 
and icy hand of death. Alas, thought I, how true it is 

" For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn, 
Or busy housewife ply her evening care, 
No children run to lisp their sire's return, 
Or climb his knee, the envied kiss to share." 

" Insensibly I felt a strong inclination to sleep. I had always heard 
that this was a dangerous symptom, and if I yielded to its influence, 
my life would certainly be lost. I endeavored to shake off the drowsy 
feeling. Never before did I exert myself more to keep awake. I hal- 
loed — I shouted — I beat my breast to preserve animation, and tried 
every method to prevent my yielding to the drowsy influence. My 
noble horse was almost exhausted, and I myself began to despair of 
reaching a place of shelter — when suddenly a ray of light beamed 
upon the snow, and cast a shadow around me. Encouraged by tbe 
favorable token, I urged on. My jaded steed also seemed to know 
that he was approaching a place of shelter, for he quickened his pace, 
and shortly afterwards I discovered at a distance, a small log-hut, from 
the window of which beamed a broad blaze of light. Soon was I at 
the door, and warmly welcomed by the kind owner, who shook the 
snow from my garments, and gave me a seat before a blazing fire. 

" Oh h*ow delightful was the sense of security from the wintry blast, 
as I listened to the tales of the inmates, many of whom had, like me, 
been overtaken by the storm, and now were relating the events of their 
journey. I have passed many delightful evenings, in the course of a 
short but eventful life — I have been at the festive board, where the 
wine-cup was pushed merrily around, and song and laughter, and mer- 
riment abounded — I have mingled in the society of the gay — I have 
been 

"Where youth and pleasure meet, 
To chase the glowing hours with flying feet," 

" But never have I passed a more happy evening, than in the small 
and narrow cabin of that Illinois farmer." 
24* 



282 THE PRAIRIES. 

Thus narrates our traveller his somewhat perilous trip, and the win- 
try scene he witnessed. While we congratulate him upon his fortu- 
nate escape, and allow him to rest, our attention is next engaged on 
quite a different topic, by another traveller, Mr. Daniel S. Curtiss, 
who, after stating in his " "Western Portraiture " that he never had 
seen the thunder-storm exhibit so much terrific grandeur — so much of 
the Mighty One's oratory — as while traversing one of the vast prairies 
of the West, proceeds to give the following glowing account of the one 
he beheld : 

" Once in the summer of '48/' relates he, "I had set out on foot 
to travel westward over one of those green, undulating prairies, be- 
tween Rock River and the Mineral District, in the afternoon. I had 
been stepping on some hour or two, over the light swells and gentle 
slopes, when the storm came buzzing and bellowing portentously after 
me ; directly I turned to look at the approaching storm, when soon an 
indescribably grand conflict or agitation of the elements was presented, 
where lightning, thunders, rain and wind, seemed to be contending for 
the mastery, in their startling displays. Thunder-bursts held you in 
awe — flashes of lightning would make you start and shrink — gusts of 
wind whirled you into the high grass — rain-torrents drenched you to 
the skin ; yet, suffering and dreading all, you felt no power or will to 
escape— there was no retreat — no refuge — the jarring sounds vibrated 
on every hand — torrents and blaze poured around in every direction ; 
the muscles, together with volition, seemed paralyzed — two sensations 
alone took possession of you — awe, and admiration—which, anon, as 
you looked aloft into the dread concave, were resolved into a feeling of 
heart-homage for Him who holdeth the storms in His hand. The 
herds which grazed upon these luxuriant meadows, ran in confused 
fright down the vales to the groves; the crane and wild bird flew 
screaming with fear to the forests for shelter. All was one boundless 
scene of rushing dread. The expanded prairie, carpeted in deep 
green, below; above, the dark blue clouds, with their pendant folds, 
were ranged along, one after another (like the lower edges of curtains 
in the theatre's dome), as you gazed towards the east, the nearest be- 
ing darkest, then an interval of hesitating light falling between, then 
another cloud-sheet was swinging, and so on, in a series of some half- 
a-dozen, till at the farther end of the arched way greater light appeared, 



THE PRAIRIES. 283 

much as if you looked for miles through a vast tunnel, with occasional 
openings for light from above. "While I was gazing, absorbed, upon 
this already gorgeous spectacle, the fury of the storm had abated, the 
black, upper clouds, were mostly dispersed, and as a brighter sky 
poured its flood of light into this magnificent, ample theatre, its splen- 
dor and beauty were heightened beyond all description, and presented 
a panorama to the rapt beholder, which unmistakeably proclaimed, that 
only by the Almighty could it have been thrown out before the world ; 
and presently the Author's signature was dashed across it, in the bright 
bow which clasped the whole." 

Thus far our traveller, who, one year afterwards, on an evening in 
the autumn of 18-19, had the opportunity of witnessing, in almost a 
rapture of amaze and delight, the waving prairies on fire, for many 
miles around : 

"I was driving," he relates, "in a buggy, from Platteville to Mine- 
ral Point, and reached Belmonte mound just at the coming in of twi- 
light. The evening was one of those bland, mellow seasons, usual in 
the time of Indian summer; and on reaching the centre mound, which 
lay rolled up and shrouded in smoke, handsome as an apple-dumpling 
all steaming from the kettle, as I felt strongly tempted to know and 
see farther, I drove nearly to its summit, to take a leisure survey of the 
vast, flame-lighted, and enchanting panorama, flung out so profusely 
by artist nature; the moon and stars peered but dimly through the 
hazy air, adding mystic force to the scenes in the passing twilight. 

" Soon the fires began to kindle wider and rise higher from the long 
grass ; the gentle breeze increased to stronger currents, and soon fanned 
the small, flickering blaze, into fierce torrent-flames, which curled up 
and leaped along in resistless splendor; and like quickly raising the 
dark curtain from the luminous stage, the scenes before me were sud- 
denly changed, as if by the magician's wand, into one boundless am- 
phitheatre, blazing from earth to heaven, and sweeping the horizon 
round — columns of lurid flames sportively mounting up to the zenith, 
and dark clouds of crimson smoke curling away and aloft, till they 
nearly obscured stars and moon, while the rushing, crashing sounds, 
like roaring cataracts mingled with distant thunders, were almost deaf- 
ening; danger, death, glared all around; it screamed for victims, yet, 



284 THE PRAIRIES. 

notwithstanding the imminent peril of prairie-fires, one is loth, irreso- 
lute, almost unable to withdraw, or seek refuge. 

" 1 now thought of the spot on the banks of the bright Kankakee, 
where some years ago two young persons — beautiful, betrothed lovers, 
perished in the prairie flames, their crisped forms being found near 
that of their horse, next day, by a hunter. It is a rich, beautiful 
prairie — the river murmured along to leeward of them, but the flames 
outstripped their fleet charger, upon which both were riding, before 
he could reach the stream. Why did they not have the presence of 
mind to set a 'back fire/ and take refuge on the burned space? 

"But I am back to the mound: will the remorseless flames leap 
along the high grass that has grown luxuriantly upon the sides, to the 
very pinnacle' of this cone ? Surely the wind is this way, and my 
horse is already restive — aye, but I've a match in my pocket, and it is 
easily lighted. Persons travelling in prairie regions should bear this 
in mind. But see that ocean of flame, I must look still again, even 
my little match has sent a lively current dancing from the leeward 
slope, and I am admonished to follow it; but in presence of such 
scenes, at such an hour, the sensitive mind feels its frailty, and in- 
stinctively awards the homage due to the majesty of his Creator, from 
the creature. 

" Next morning I again visited this mound, rode over the charred 
grass-stubble to its top, the scene of so much terrific brilliance but a 
few hours before ! Now all that -was changed, the green-brown carpet 
was displaced by the black spread — the ravaging flames had consumed 
everything, black destruction sickened the heart in sadness — the keen- 
est, darkest emblem of desolation that can be imagined; even the livid, 
confused glimmer, still almost trembled around the eyes, from last 
night's flames — such as gleaming lights leave upon the optic nerve ; 
now it was painful to contemplate for a moment, the same expanse 
which a few hours ago, it required an effort to withdraw from its en- 
chanting, but fearful sublimity — like the giddy fascination of the ser- 
pent which holds its victim in thrall till destruction overwhelms be 
yond escape — is the charm of such spectacles. It was as if the destroy- 
ing angel flew abroad, crying in terror-tones, breathing tempests of fire 
and smoke from his nostrils, that should awe and paralyze; I may not 






THE PRAIRIES. 285 

describe — my pen is tame and dark — but would you realize such emo- 
tions — experience its force — 

" fly to the prairies and in wonder gaze, 
As o'er the grass sweeps the magnificent blaze, 
The earth cannot boast so magnificent a sight, 
A continent blazing with oceans of light." 

So far Mr. Curtiss, to whose eloquent description of a prairie-fire 
we now subjoin several remarks, which, intended to form the conclu- 
sion of this brief sketch of the prairies of Illinois, we deem must be 
of essential service to those of our readers intending to settle on prai- 
rie-lands, by rendering them familiar with the measures of precaution 
they have to adopt, in order to secure themselves against loss of life 
and property, whenever such a conflagration occurs. 

Conflagrations of prairies and woods are caused either accidentally 
or designedly, from wantonness, or with a view of bewildering the 
game ; and often spread further than the incendiaries supposed or in- 
tended they should. Wherever extensive prairies are, one-half of them 
is burnt in spring, the other half in autumn, in order to produce a 
more rapid growth of exuberant grass, destroying at the same time the 
tall and thick weed-stalks, together with their seeds. The wind blow- 
ing to the side opposite the neighboring farms, the dry grass is fre- 
quently set on fire, it being supposed, (in fact it but rarely happens), 
that the flames would not spread beyond certain ways, ditches, or 
creeks; but a violent storm suddenly starting up from the opposite di- 
rection, drives the flames to the same, and, kindled to a tremendous 
heat, they spread with such rapidity, that riders on the fleetest steeds 
can seldom escape. The more violent the wind, and the greater the 
burning plain, from which the blaze spreads toward a neighboring 
farm, the greater also the necessity of burning back ; that is, of ig- 
niting the grass or foliage of the woods close by the fences, in order to 
bring it to pass, that the larger devouring fire, upon arriving at the 
place already designedly ignited, becomes extinguished for want of ali- 
ment. In order to be able, however, to make proper use of this mea- 
sure of safety, it is very essential, that every farmer should encompass 
with a ditch those of his fences adjoining the prairie, and clear a space 
at least twelve feet broad, of all trees along those situated in the forest 



286 THE PRAIRIES. 

— thus preventing the withered leaves from accumulating. A much 
trodden road around the fences is of the highest importance, present- 
ing, as it does, the best security against danger of fire; for the flames 
penetrating in even the smallest possible strip to the fence, the dry 
wood of the latter, kindled by the withered weeds, and the burning, 
whirling leaves, ignites with the most astonishing rapidity, firing, 
especially at night, the houses along the fields, ere their thoughtlessly 
slumbering inhabitants become aware of the extent of the danger, or 
even imagine it to be at hand. 

The farmer, who, by the adoption of the above mentioned measures, 
has secured himself against ordinary fires, is also able to protect him- 
self against very extensive conflagrations of the prairies or woods, by 
carefully sweeping away in the direction of the fire, all leaves that may 
happen to lie on the road, the grass and foliage on the other side of 
which he will ignite, fully convinced, that the blaze burning away 
from his hedges, will much less endanger them, than will that sea of 
flames waving from afar. Should the fences, nevertheless, be endan- 
gered, they must be torn down as quickly as possible, the fire being 
thus almost wholly prevented from spreading any farther. Shoul4 
there be no road or ditch along the fence, and the soil be fit for the 
use of the plough, it would be advisable before firing, to plough seve- 
ral times along the enclosures, thus covering the dry grass with the 
largest possible clods of earth. When a large conflagration cannot be 
kept off by burning back, and there be no time to tear down all the 
fences exposed to the fire, acquiescing in what the hand of man proves 
too feeble to avoid, one should only break down that part of them 
nearest to the fire, in order to save the buildings, and stores of corn 
and provisions. Thus, a cautious, circumspect farmer, with the aid 
of his family, or men, can put a stop to a conflagration, that without 
much resolute action on their part, would have consumed and destroyed 
everything for an extent of several miles, as, we are sorry to say, hap- 
pens here and there every year. Conflagrations of forests, during 
which the trees themselves stand in full blaze, only occur in forests 
of pine, fir, or other oily trees, and can only be stopped by large rivers, 
or heavy showers of rain, or be suppressed by the united exertions of 
the inhabitants of entire regions. Conflagrations of woods, during 
which the flames consume the dry foliage lying on the ground, may 



THE PRAIRIES. 287 

be more easily extinguished. It is, nevertheless, often quite a tedious, 
toilsome job, on account of the clouds of smoke and sparks, which roll 
far in advance of the fire. With shovels, spades, and brooms hastily 
made out of brushwood, the farmers, almost suffocated with the smoke, 
and singed by the flying sparks and blaze, exert themselves to ap- 
proach the burning line, and by quickly beating out the fire, to con- 
quer in the very line of operation of the enemy ; a position whence, 
in all directions, the fire may be beaten out with the above instru- 
ments. When the wind is moderate, the fire is usually extinguished 
by the united efforts of the neighboring farmers. It occurring, how- 
ever, not unfrequently, that flames apparently beaten out, are kindled 
anew by the wind, it is necessary to run several times in the most ra- 
pid course along the extinguished lines, promptly to despatch the fire 
which starts afresh. 

Should the conflagration, however, in spite of all efforts, visibly 
gain ground, extending for so great a distance that there could be no 
reasonable hope of extinguishing it, in the manner above described, 
without wasting time or strength in fruitless efforts, one should rather 
resort to the safer method, used in protecting the fences, of burning 
back — even if a part of tbe best timber, which at any rate more or less 
suffers from such fires, should be exposed thereby. The " nil despe- 
randum " applying to nothing better than danger by fire, the super- 
human efforts which are frequently made to avert with little or no aid, 
the most imminent danger by fires, can scarcely be imagined. Language 
cannot convey, words cannot express, the faintest idea of the splen- 
dor and grandeur of such a conflagration of forest or prairie, during 
the night; one would think that the pale queen of night, disdaining 
to take her accustomed place in the heavens, had despatched a myriad 
of messengers to light their torches at the altar of the setting sun, and 
that now they were speeding on the wings of the wind to their appro- 
priate stations. If you know that the conflagration can cause no da- 
mage, you do not cease to gaze with admiration upon the magnificent 
spectacle, but the news of its approach to the vicinity of a farm, rouses 
the gazers as would an electric shock, impelling those present who are 
able to work, instantaneously to rise and rush to the threatened places, 
indicated from afar by volumes of smoke and flame. Should the fire 
be seen in the day-time, or at an early hour in the evening, the neigh- 



288 THE PRAIRIES. 

bors residing so close together as to be able to succor each other, then 
it is advisable, that one or two persons should plough along the fences, 
however distant the danger may be, whilst the others should imme- 
diately commence extinguishing the flames, so that, should the dan- 
ger be increased by a storm suddenly springing up, the expedient of 
burning back might yet safely and successfully be resorted to. 






AGRICULTURE. 

If any State of the Union is adapted for agriculture, and the other 
branches of rural economy relating thereto, such as the raising of cattle, 
and the culture of fruit trees, it is pre-eminently Illinois, whose ex- 
tremely fertile prairies recompense the farmer at less trouble than he 
would be obliged to incur elsewhere, in order to attain the same re- 
sults. Her virgin soil, adapted by nature for immediate culture, only 
awaits the plough and the seed, in order to mature within a few 
months golden ears of the most beautiful Indian corn, the heaviest 
wheat, and such other species of corn as are indigenous in the tempe- 
rate zones. Here the husbandman is not obliged for whole years to 
squander his best strength in clearing the primitive forest, hewing 
down gigantic trees, and rooting out stumps and weeds, in order to 
gain after each and every year of toilsome labor, in the sweat of his 
brow, another patch of arable ground ; but the soil only wants com- 
mon tilling; here the farmer is not obliged to gather the stones from 
his acres, so that the halms may have a large scope for development, 
for the soil is so little encumbered with them, that, if you should re- 
quire a proprietor of some twenty acres of prairie land to collect from 
them a cart-load of stones, in return for which he was to receive a cart- 
load of the purest gold, he would be compelled to decline accepting 
this handsome offer. Here no manure is wanted to fertilize the soil ; 
it consists here of a rich black mould, several feet deep, that wants no 
, dung, but is almost inexhaustibly fertile, and capable of producing the 
richest fruit, year after year, for entire generations. The Illinoisian 
farmer who cares not to improve the land, or enhance its fertility, 
as he should, has nothing to do but to plough, sow, and reap : less 
labor is here required than at other places where the usual demands 
"of agriculture must first be satisfied. Hence a man of small means 
can more rapidly acquire wealth in this State, than at places where 
25 T (289) 



290 AGRICULTURE. 

he must waste his best time and strength in occupations not required 
here. 

The vegetable products of Illinois are especially — Indian corn, 
which is the staple commodity ; wheat, which thrives well in all parts 
of the State; and also oats, barley, rye, buckwheat, potatoes, sweet 
potatoes, flax, hemp, peas, clover, cabbage, rapes, and the ordinary 
pot-herbs, tobacco, and the bean from which the castor-oil (ol. ricini) 
is obtained, are cultivated here; of the latter enough is raised for 
home use. 

The culture of fruit-trees, though securing a handsome profit to the 
farmer, is chiefly confined to that of apples and peaches, most excel- 
lent varieties of which are grown here ; besides these there are already 
several vineyards yielding a very good wine. The culture of fruit- 
trees and of the vine will be treated of in a special chapter, whilst in 
this present chapter we shall speak of agriculture particularly. 

The amount of bushels raised per acre, first claims our attention, 
for the comparatively smaller or greater amount reaped by the farmer, 
in connection with the market prices of the produce, will naturally 
exercise a great influence in diminishing or increasing his revenue, and 
thus impair or enhance his prosperity. 

As already mentioned in the preface of this book, we have received 
from a number of gentlemen, for many years resident in Illinois, 
among whom are also many practical farmers, information concerning 
all matters, so that the statements subjoined here may be relied Upon 
as the results of a practical experience for many years. We quote 
here the testimony of several in regard to the amount of the various 
products per acre. 

F. A. Arenz, Esq., of Beardstown, Cass Co., states the amount of 
produce, as follows : Indian corn, 50-70 bushels per acre; wheat, 18- 
25; rye, 35-40; oats, 40-45; potatoes, 150-200. 

James Gr. Loulard, Esq., of Maple Lawn, Jo Daviess Co. ; Indian 
corn, 30-100 bushels, per average 60; wheat, 15-40, per average, 
22^ oats, per average, 45; barley, 25-60, per average, 35; rye, 20— 
50, per average, 30; potatoes, 100-300, per average, 150. 

Heinr. Funk, Esq., of Stout's Grove, McLean Co. ; winter wheat, 
20-30; spring wheat, 20-28; oats, 40-50; Indian corn, 45-70. 



AGRICULTURE. 291 

Stephen Feussner, Esq., of Marissa, St. Clair Co.; Indian corn, 30 
-50; wheat, 18-30; oats, 30; potatoes, 100-200. 

Rev. F. Will. Holls, of Centreville, St. Clair Co. ; barley, 40-45 ; 
wheat, 15-20; Indian corn, 50-55. 

Michael Kleinhenz, Esq., of Henry, Marshall Co. ; Indian corn, 
50-70. 

Wm. Ross, Esq., of Pittsfield, Pike Co. ; Indian corn, 50-70 ; 
wheat, 20-40 ; oats, 40-50. 

Dr. Danl. Stahl, of Quincy, Adams Co. ; Indian corn, 60-70 ; 
wheat, 20-40. 

Dr. Welsch, of Mascoutah, St. Clair Co. ; Indian corn, 70-75 ; 
winter wheat, 22-25; barley, 40-45; castor beans, 30; oats, 40; po- 
tatoes, 50-80. 

Geo. Bunsen, Esq., of Belleville, St. Clair Co. ; Indian corn, 40- 
100; wheat, 16-25; barley, 40; rye, 16; oats, 40-60 ; potatoes, 100. 

Isaac Underhill, Esq., of Peoria; Indian corn, 30-60; wheat, 15 
-25. 

A. Collins, Esq., of Hadley, Will Co.; Indian corn, 50; oats, 40 
-60. 

Thus, according to these observations, which were made in nine 
different counties of the State, throughout her longitudinal extension, 
from her northern boundary to St. Clair County, in her southern por- 
tion, we receive the following average numbers, per acre : — Indian 
corn, 56 bushels; wheat, 24; oats, 44; barley, 41; rye, 29; potatoes, 
143. 

Let us now listen to a well known authority, with respect to agri- 
culture in Illinois. Mr. J. Ambrose Wight, of Chicago, who was for 
many years the accomplished editor of the " Prairie Farmer/' an ex- 
cellent journal, largely diffused, which, however, should not be want- 
ing in the house of any lllinoisian farmer, and which should be stu- 
diously perused by every new settler, — in a letter dated Jan. 9, 1855, 
and addressed to John Wilson, makes the following statements : 

" At your request, I would state, that, from an acquaintance with Illinois 
lands, and Illinois farmers, of eighteen years, during thirteen of which I have 
been engaged as editor of the 'Prairie Farmer,' I am prepared to give the fol- 
lowing as the rates of produce which may be had per acre, with ordinary cul- 
ture: 



292 AGRICULTURE. 

Winter wheat ;., 15 to 25 bushels. 

Spring wheat 10 to 20 " 

Indian corn 40 to 70 " 

Oats 40 to 80 « 

Potatoes 100 to 200 " 

Grass, (timothy and clover) 1J to 3 tons. 

" 'Ordinary culture,' on prairie lands, is not what is meant by the term in 
the Eastern or Middle States. It means here, no manure ; and commonly but 
once, or, at most, twice ploughing, on perfectly smooth land, with long fur- 
rows, and no stones or obstructions ; when two acres per day is no hard job 
for one team. It is often but very poor culture, with shallow ploughing, and 
without attention to weeds. 

I have known crops, not unfrequently, far greater than these, with but little 
variation in their treatment ; say forty to fifty bushels of winter wheat ; sixty 
to eighty of oats ; three hundred of potatoes, and one hundred of Indian corn. 
' Good culture,' which means rotation, deep ploughing, farms well stocked, 
and some manure applied, at intervals of from three to five years, would, in 
good seasons, very often approach these latter figures." 

It will be seen that Mr. Wight's statements are in perfect harmony 
with the above observations, made for several years by practical Illi- 
noisian farmers; hence these numbers maybe considered the exact 
rates of average produce. 

In another chapter we have noted the market-prices of corn, and 
other farm produce, as the newspapers stated them to rule during the 
first half of January, 1856, in 51 different places, scattered all over 
Illinois. According to this account the highest prices in the places 
mentioned before (with the sole exception of Chicago, which cannot 
be considered as a place of production), have been the following : 

For Indian corn, in Joliet., $ 54 cents. 

" Wheat, in Aurora and Batavia 1 60 " 

" Rye, in Freeport 1 00 

u Potatoes, in Springfield 1 00 

" Oats, in Cairo, Moline, and Ottawa 35 " 

m " Barley, in Quincy 1 50 " 

While the average price 

Of Indian corn, was 33£ " 

" Wheat 1 27 " 

" Rye 70 " 

" Potatoes 42 " 

" Oats 25 « 

" Barley 1 03 






AGRICULTURE. 293 

Let us now calculate in money, the probable produce of an acre. 

Basing our calculation upon the average ruling prices of the various 
products, during the first half of January, 1856, and upon the above 
given average rates of bushels per acre, we should estimate every acre 
to be worth, if planted with 

Indian corn $18 67 

Wheat 30 48 

Rye 20 30 

Potatoes 60 06 

Oats 11 00 

Barley.... 42 23 

Basing our calculation, however, upon the above mentioned highest 
prices, we find every acre to be worth, if planted with 

Indian corn $30 24 

Wheat 38 40 

Rye 29 00 

Potatoes 143 00 

Oats 15 40 

Barley 61 50 

Having shown by the preceding, how much an acre of land at an 
average rate of produce, and at average prices, must yield, and how 
much at those highest prices, paid in the first half of January, 1856, 
(which latter calculation is also based on the average rate of produce), 
we now turn to the profitableness of farming itself. 

Profits of farming. — Here, also, we cannot do better than to refer 
to the observations and statements made by practical men, 

Edward Bebb, Esq., of Fountaindale, Winnebago Co., in a letter 
addressed to us, gives the following account of his first crop, on newly- 
broken land : 

"In the summer of 1851, we had sixty-five acres of an eighty acre lot 
broken. In the spring of 1852, we fenced the whole eighty and sowed it with 
oats. The following is a statement of the crop : 

25* 



294 AGRICULTURE. 

80 acres of land, entered at $1 25 per acre $100 00 

Fencing 80 acres with post and board, (two boards only being 

put on) 320 00 

Breaking 65 acres, at $2 00 per acre 130 00 

Seed, 130 bushels, at 12 cents per bus., (oats being very cheap 

that spring) 15 65 

Sowing and harrowing, at 37J cents per acre 24 37 

5 acres mown and fed before harvest, no account kept. 

Reaping 60 acres, at 50 cents per acre.. 30 00 

Binding 60 acres, at 75 cents per acre , v . 45 00 

Threshing 120 00 

Total cost $785 02 

3000 bushels of oats, sold in January, at 30 cents per bushel... 900 00 

Balance in favor of crop 114 98 

In the foregoing statement I made no mention of the straw, which being cut 
before it was dead ripe, and gotten up without any rain, wintered, with scarcely 
any other feed, 25 head of cattle." 

Wm. Waite, Esq., Rock Island Co., in the spring of 1853, pur- 
chased 80 acres of prairie land, at $4 50 ; his account of the first year 
is as follows : 



80 acres of prairie, at $4 50 per acre $360 00 

Breaking 60 acres, at $2 50 per acre..,.. 150 00 

Fencing 60 acres, at $1 00 per rod, 400 rods of board fence ... 400 00 
Seed for 40 acres with winter wheat, 1-J bushels to the acre, at 

$1 00 per bushel 60 00 

Sowing and harrowing, 75 cents per acre 30 00 

Harvesting and marketing, $1 50 per acre 60 00 

Threshing and cleaning, 1,100 bushels, at 10 cents per bush... 110 00 

Hauling 15 miles to rail-road, 6 cents per bushel 66 00 

Ploughing 20 acres for corn in the spring, at 75 cents $15 00 

Marking off and planting A 15 00 

Cultivating, at $1 25 per acre * 25 00 

Harvesting, at $1 per acre 20 00 

Threshing, and hauling 15 miles to rail-road, 1000 bushels, at 

10 cents per bushel 100 00 

Total cost of farm and crops $1411 00 

1100 bushels of wheat, at $1 15 per bushel, $1,265 00 

1000 bushels of corn, at 28 cents per bushel 280 00 

Total amount of crops 1545 00 

Profits of 60 acres, after paying all expenses $134 00 

and 20 acres of land unbroken. — This farm is now worth $25 per acre. 

Jos. Reinhardt, Esq., of Granville, Putnam Co., gives the following 



AGRICULTURE. 295 

statement of the first year's crop of 80 acres, which he purchased at 
an original cost of 815 per acre : 

80 acre? prairie land, at $15 $1200 00 

Breaking 70 at $2 50 175 00 

320 rods fence, (480 rods would have been necessary, but for 

160 adjoining rods of the neighbor's fence), at $1 320 00 

Second ploughing and harrowing at SI 50 105 00 

Sowing 105 bushels of wheat, at $1 25 131 25 

Harvesting, at $1 per acre 70 00 

Threshing and transporting, at $1 80 per acre 126 00 

Total cost $2127 25 

Assuming, at a moderate calculation, every acre to yield 20 

bushels, we have 1400 bushels, at $1 25 1750 00 

Hence, the 80 acres, after the first harvest, will cost only $377 25 

Helving on my own experience, I have based the above calculation upon the 
highest cost, an average price of wheat, and the low produce of 20 bushels per 
acre, although I myself have reaped 25 bushels, and many others from 30 to 
35 bushels. I also assumed only 70 acres fit to be broken, as, among 80 acres 
of prairie lands, there are in most cases 10 acres of lowland, best fit for mea- 
dows. Every such acre may be safely supposed to yield 2 tons of hay, worth 
from $2 to $4 per ton, which amount does not form one of the items of my 
::on. 

Jno. S. Peironnel, Esq., of Peru, gives the following statement of 
a crop from 10 acres, purchased by him April, 1855, at $30 per acre : 

J. S. Peiroxxel, Dr. 

To 10 acres of land at $30 per acre $300 00 

" 6 months' interest 9 00 

" 3 J days' ploughing 8 75 

" 1 do harrowing 2 50 

" 1 \ do drilling" 2 75 

" 5 days, with cultivator and shovel plough 8 75 

" paying for husking 28 90 

" shelling and taking to market 24 00 

$384 65 

J. S. Pftroxxel, Cr. 

By 723 bushels of corn, at 53 cents $383 19 

'• corn cobs from same 8 00 $391 19 

Due J. S. Peironnel, above every cost $6 54 

Ralph Anderson, Esq., of Silver Creek, Stephenson Co., estimates 
the costs and receipts of 34 acres, as follows : 



296 AGRICULTURE. 

34 acres purchased last winter, at $5 , $170 00 

Fencing '. 100 00 

Breaking .• 87 00 

Sowing and tilling 400 00 

68 bushels of seed wheat , , 68 00 

Harvesting 71 00 

Threshing and taking to market 100 00 

Total cost . $996 00 

RECEIPTS. 

950 bushels, sold at $1 05 $997 50 

200 " on hand, « 210 00 

Total receipts „.„ $1,207 50 

Deducting costs 996 00 

Net proceeds of the first year.,..., $211 50 

A correspondent of the Alton Courier, writes the following from 
Shipman : 

"I saw a communication in the 'Courier,' over the signature of ' Amand,' 
in which it is stated that Col. Wm. B. Warren, of Jacksonville, had a crop of 
wheat which netted 'him $20 per acre, clear of all expenses, at present 
prices, and that the wheat crop of Mr. Constant, of Sangamon County, netted 
him $17 per acre. 

" They were certainly profitable crops. I threshed my crop of Maryland 
white wheat, a few days ago, a small one it is true. The thresher measured 
317 bushels, the most of which was measured by him into the sacks of farmers, 
for seed, at $1 25 per bushel. I have been asked a great many times how 
many acres of ground that crop of wheat grew on (with numberless other 
questions), and my answer invariably was, 'about eight.' I have since mea- 
sured the ground, and there was a little less than 7| acres. I submit the fol- 
lowing items, which were set clown as they occurred : 

EXPENSES. 

To 10 bushels of wheat for seed, at $1 25 $13 50 

Two days with cultivators, one horse, and one hand, at $1 50.. 3 00 

Cutting off cornstalks in spring 1 00 

Cutting 7f acres, at 75 cents 5 81 

Nine hands for binding and shocking, at $1 25 11 25 

Three days stacking, with 2 hands 9 00 

Threshing 317 bushels, at 5 cents 15 85 

Hands and team for same with same 15 00 



$74 41 

CREDIT. 

By 317 bushels of wheat at $1 25 $396 25 



Net profit $320 84 

Which would be a little more than $41 49 per acre. 



AGRICULTURE. 297 

W. E. Harris, Esq., of Palmyra, Lee Co., makes the following 
communication concerning the management of his farm : 

"I commenced here in the spring of 1847, with a capital of $700, with 
■which I purchased twenty acres of timber, and one hundred and sixty acres 
of prairie land. The first season I broke up fifty-five acres, with a pair of 
horses and one yoke of oxen, breaking two acres per day. The third year, I 
added eighty acres to my farm, and hired fifty acres broke at $2 per acre. 
The fourth year, I hired ten acres more broke, at $2 25 per acre, which gave 
me one hundred and fifteen acres under cultivation. This is all that I have 
had under cultivation, and I have sold the product this year for over $2000. 
I have now been engaged here for about eight years, and my capital of $700 
has increased to between $8000 and $10,000." 

Charles W. Murtfeldt, Esq., of Oregon, Ogle Co., gives the follow- 
ing account of the management of 80 acres, purchased by him at 
$20 per acre, and planted, 53 of them with wheat, and the remain- 
ing 27 with Indian corn : 

10 per cent interest on $1600, being the purchase money of 

the 80 acres, at $20 per acre $160 00 

Taxes 7 00 

Ploughing, at $1 per acre 80 00 

Sowing and harrowing 53 acres at 75 cents 39 75 

Cutting and binding 53 acres, at $1 53 00 

Stacking of the wheat. 39 00 

Seed of wheat 88 00 

Seed of Indian corn 1 75 

Planting and cultivating Indian corn 50 00 

Harvesting Indian corn , 30 00 

Threshing 1100 bushels of wheat, at .5 cents 55 00 

Other work and labor 30 00 



50 

The receipts were, for 1100 bus. of wheat, at $1 $1100 

For 750 bushels of Indian corn, at 50 cents 375 1475 00 

Gain $841 00 

Rev. Jno. S. Barger, of Clinton, De Witt Co., in a letter dated 
22d Jan., 1855, states the following facts in relation to the manage- 
ment of his farm : 

"From 1848 to 1850, I purchased in De Witt County, and nearly adjoining 
Clinton, 400 acres of fine farming land, through which the Illinois Central 
Railway passes; and in the vicinity throe timbered lots, containing 140 acres, 
making in all 540 acres, at a cost of $1513 19. In the spring of 1853 I de- 
termined to make my farm, and aecordimrlv contracted for the breaking of 
300 acre*, at $000; also for making 400 rods of fence, at $4 75 per 100 vails 
in the fence, equal $494 19 ; making altogether, $1094 19. Having obtained 



298 AGRICULTURE. 

the privilege of joining to 720 rods of fence on adjoining farms, I thus en- 
closed 360 acres, and had 280 prepared for seeding. 

" The breaking was done from the 27th of May to the 9th of July. Tho 
greater portion of this ploughed land might therefore have been planted in 
corn, and harvested in time for seeding with wheat ; and thus I might have 
added considerably to the avails of the first year, had I not been 80 miles dis- 
tant, engaged in the labors of the Jacksonville district. 

I paid for seeding 300 acres $230 00 

To 325 bushels seed wheat 243 75 

Add the cost of making the farm 1094 19 

$1567 94 
I paid for harvesting, threshing, packing, and delivering at the 

Clinton depot, distant from the farm from \ to 1^ miles , 1650 00 

$3217 94 
Sold at the Clinton depot, 4378| bus. of wheat, for... $4378 82 

I kept for bread 50 00 

Making the gross income of the first year 4,428 82 

From which take the entire expenditure 3,217 94 

And you have the net proceeds of the first year 1,210 88 

To which add the cost of making the farm 1,094 19 

Making the entire avails of the first year 2,305 07 

" Furthermore, to do justice to the productiveness of the soil, and to show 
what the well directed efforts and judicious management of a well-trained and 
practical Illinois farmer would have done, it should be stated that, at least in 
my judgment, some 1500 bushels of wheat were wasted, by untimely and care- 
less harvesting and threshing, equal to $1500 net proceeds. Then add 
$55 33, excess of payments for ploughing and seeding only 280 acres, which 
a skilful farmer would have known before making his contracts, and you have 
a loss which ought to have been a gain of $1,555 33. This amount saved, 
would have shown the avails of the first year's operations, on 280 acres of the 
farm, to have been $3,860 40. 

" Now, sir, if one under such circumstances, with but little more than a the- 
oretical knowledge of farming, has succeeded even so well, having hired all the 
labor, and mostly at very high prices, how much larger profits might have 
been realized by a skilful and practical farmer, devoting his whole time and 
attention to his appropriate occupation. How much more successful thou- 
sands of farmers and farmers' sons, on our eastern seaboard, and in the East- 
ern States, might be, were they, or could they be induced to move on and ap- 
ply their skill, industry, and economy, in the cultivation of the rich and pro- 
ductive prairies of Illinois." 

The "Prairie Farmer," of January 24, 1856, contains the follow- 
ing letter of a farmer residing in Warsaw, Hancock Co. : 

"I purchased these acres of woodland, three-fourths of a mile from town, 
for the purpose of making a fruit orchard. By the time I could get it cleared 
and enclosed, the season had so far advanced that I could not plant trees — so 
I contented myself with putting in such a crop as the advanced season would 



AGRICULTURE. 299 

justify. About the 20th of June, I finished planting three acres of white 
beans, two of corn, pumpkins and garden vegetables, and half an acre of po- 
tatoes ; and later, say about the 1st of July, I sowed about two and a half 
acres of buckwheat. 

"In the autumn I harvested the following crops, worth, in the market at 
home, the prices annexed: 

35 bushels of beans, at $2 $70 00 

50 " buckwheat, at 70 cents 35 00 

40 " potatoes, at 40 cents 16 00 

Corn with the fodder 15 00 

Pumpkins, cabbages, tomatoes, melons, sweet potatoes, &c 14 00 

Total $150 00 

"This, it strikes me, was a tolerably fair result. I did not expect to do 
much, as the season was so far advanced when I commenced ; yet I have de- 
monstrated to my own satisfaction, that with a good season next year, and 
fair prices in the fall, I can make my little farm of ten acres bring me $300 — 
besides growing an indefinite number of young fruit trees ; and that too with- 
out going beyond mere ordinary farm crops. 

H. H. Hendrick, Esq., of Batavia, Kane Co., calculates the value 
of a farm of 160 acres, as follows : 

" A small farm would be worth more per acre, with the same improvements, 
than a very large one. For example, take 160 acres, purchased at $10 per 
acre: 

First cost of 160 acres, at $10 per acre $1600 00 

Breaking one hundred acres, at $2 25 225 00 

160 rods fence on front side, or road, $1 per rod 160 00 

Half of the other three sides 240 00. 

Building house, &c 500 00 

Fruit trees, &c 25 00 

Amounting to $2750 00 

It is probably now worth $25 per acre, which will be 4000 00 

Leaving a profit for owner of... 1,250 00 

Or, at $20 per acre, still leaves a balance of 450 00 

"It is probable that the fence maybe built for a little less than $1 per 
rod; but as I have made no allowance for cross fences, yards, &c, and calcu- 
lated only half of three sides, and one whole side for the road, I think the ex- 
cess of price will not more than pay the expense of building the necessary 
fences inside. I have also left sixty acres for meadow and pasture. If the 
purchaser have means to make the necessary improvements, or most of them, 
I think he would do well to settle on such lands." 

The " Prairie Farmer," of February 14th, 1856, contains a "very 
detailed account of the management of a farm, by Mr. Wra. P. West, 
of Blackberry, Kane Co. This account, which has but this present 



300 AGRICULTURE. 

moment been published, was originally intended for the Agricultural 
Society, of Kane Co. . The farm of Mr. West containing 240 acres, 
this account deserves particular notice, because of its comprising all 
the branches of rural economy. The account is herewith subjoined : 

1852. 23 acres, Dr. 

June. — To breaking 23 acres, 3 inches deep, at $1 50 per acre $34 50 

Aug. — To 8 days cross ploughing, 4 inches deep, at $2 16 00 

Sept. 1st. — To 46 bu. Soule's seed wheat, at 75c. perbu 34 50 

" " 2 days' work sowing the same, at $1. 2 00 

" " 6 days' work harrowing, at $2 per day 12 00 

" " cost harvesting 23 acres, at $1 50 per acre 34 50 

" " threshing 690 bu. at 8c. per bu 55 20 

" " hauling the same to market, at 2c 13 80 

$202 50 

1853. Cr. 

By 30 bu. per acre, 690 bu., at 95c $655 50 

Cost 202 50 

Net profit $153 00 

Cost per acre $8 80 

Net profit per acre '. 19 70 

1852. 17J ACRES WHEAT ON CORN GROUND. Dr. 

Aug. 20. — To sowing \\ days, at $1 per day $1 50 

" " 35 bu. Soule's seed wheat, at 75c 26 25 

Aug. 20. — To 4 days' work, man, horse and shovel plough, at 

$1 50 per day 6 00 

" "2 days' work, man, horse, and small harrow, at 

$1 50 per day 3 00 

" " 6 days' work, hoeing in wheat around hills 6 00 

" " cost harvesting 17} acres, at $1 50 per acre 26 25 

" " threshing 394 bu., at 8c. per bu 3152 

" " carting 214 bu. to market, at 2c. per bush 4 28 

Total cost $104 80 

1852. f Cr. 

By 22} bu. per acre, 394 bushels. 

" 214 bu. sold at 95c, per bu $203 30 

" 180 bu. sold at farm, at $1 per bush 180 00 

$383 30 
Cost 104 80 

Net profit, 17} acres $278 50 

Cost per acre $5 93 

Net profit per acre 15 91 






AGRICULTURE. 301 

1853. 12 ACRES OF oats. Db. 

April 15.— To 5 days' ploughing, at $2 $10 00 

" " 4 days' harrowing, at $2 8 00 

" " 36 bu. oats for seed, and 1 day's work at $1 10 00 

« . » threshing, $42— harvesting, $18 60 00 

Total $88 00 

1853. ■ Cr. 

By 87* bu. per acre, making 1050 bu., at 25c $262 50 

Cost 88 00 

Net profit $174 50 

Cost per acre $7 33 

Net profit per acre 14 54 

1852. 9 J ACRES SPRING WHEAT. B*R. 

Sept.— To 5 days' ploughing, 8 inches deep, at $2 $10 00 

" " 19 bu. Rio seed wheat, at 75c 14 25 

1853. 

March 25. — 1 day sowing the same . , 1 00 

3 days' work harrowing, at $2 6 00 

Cost harvesting 9^- acres, at $1 50 per acre..... 14 25 

Cost threshing 228 bu. 8c 18 24 

To carting the same to market at 2c 4 56 

Total cost $68 30 

1853. Cr. 

By 9$ acres, 24 bu. per acre, 228 bu., at $1 $228 00 

Cost 68 30 

Net profit $159 70 

Cost per acre $7 20 

Net profit per acre 16 81 

1852. 2 J ACRES WINTER RYE. Dr. 

Sept.— To ploughing 1 day $2 00 

To 4 bu. seed, 50c 2 00 

To sowing and harrowing, 1 day 2 00 

To harvesting the same 3 75 

To threshing 50 bu. rye, 8c 4 00 

To carting the same to market, 2c 1 00 

Total cost $14 75 

1852. Cr. 

By 2\ acres, 22 bu. and 7 qts. per acre, 50 bu. at 50 c $25 00 

Cost 14 75 

Net profit 10 25 

Cost per acre $6 50 

Net profit per acre 4 55 

26 



302 AGRICULTURE. 

1853. 5| ACRES BARLEY. De. 

April.— To 2|- days' ploughing, at $2 $5 00 

To 12 bu. seed at 40c 4 80 

To 1 day's work sowing same , 1 00 

To 1^ day's work harrowing, at 2$ 3 00 

To harvesting 6$ acres, at $1 50 8 25 

To carting 182 bu. to market, 2c 3 64 

Threshing the same, 8c 25 69 

Total cost..... $40 25 

1853. Cr. 

By 5i acres, 33 bu. 3 qts. per acre, 180 bu., 40c $72 90 

Cost 40 25 

Net profit 32 55 

Cost per acre $7 32 

Net profit per acre. 5 92 

28£ ACRES CORN GROUND. 

One half of this was fall ploughed, the balance timothy sod, broke May 1st, 
1852, 7 inches deep. Cost of tending about the same as fall ploughing. 

To 28| acres ploughing, at $1 per acre $28 50 

To 5 days' harrowing, at $2 10 00 

To 4 bu. seed corn, 75c 3 00 

To 9£ days' planting, 7s 8 31 

To 26 days' cultivating corn, $1 25 30 50 

To 12 days' hoeing, 88c 10 56 

To 57 days' husking, $1 , 57 00 

Shelling and marketing 1710 bu. at 4c 68 40 

Total cost $216 27 

Cr. 

By 28£ acres, 60 bu. per acre, 1710 bu. at 50c $855 00 

Cost 216 27 

Net profit $638 73 

Cost per acre I $7 59 

Net profit per acre 22 41 

1853. ONE ACRE POTATOES. DR. 

To cost of raising „ $10 00 

Cr. 
By 150 bu. potatoes, 25c $37 50 

Net profit $27 50 



AGRICULTURE. 30 

ONE HUNDRED AND THREE SHEEP. Dr. 

To cutting and stacking 25 tons hay, at $1 $25 00 

To feeding 30 bu. corn, 50c 15 00 

To feeding and salt 10 00 

To washing and shearing sheep, and marketing wool 10 00 

Total cost $60 00 

Cr. 

By 103 fleeces, average 3 lbs. 10 oz. 373 lbs., at 46c $171 58 

By 53 lambs at $1 25 66 25 

$237 83 
Cost 60 00 

Net profit $177 83 

FIFTEEN HEAD OF CATTLE AND ONE COLT. Dr. 

To cost keeping to hay $25 00 

To 25 bu. corn feed, 50c 12 50 

To labor and salt 10 50 

Total cost $47 00 

Cr. 

By growth on cattle and colt $150 00 

Cost 47 00 

Net profit $103 00 

Dr. To fatting one sow and four pigs, 80 bu. corn at 50c 40 00 

Cr. By 1500 lbs. pork, at 5c. per lb 75 00 

Net profit... $35 00 

25 bu. apples, $1 25 00 

8 bu. peaches, $1 8 00 

5 swarms bees, $5 25 00 

50 lbs. honey, 12Jc 6 25 

24 turkeys, 50c 12 00 

60 chickens, 12£ c 7 50 

$83 75 
Cost of keeping the above 10 00 

Net profit $73 75 

TWENTY-ONE ACRES TIMOTHY SEED. 

Dr. To harvesting, threshing, and cleaning $45 00 

Cr. By 84 bu., at $2 per bu 168 00 

Net profit $123 00 



Net profits. 


$453 00 


278 50 


159 7C 


10 25 


32 55 


174 50 


638 73 


27 50 


177 83 


- 103 00 


35 00 


73 75 


123 00 



304" AGRICULTURE. 

KECAPITULATION. 

Cost of growing. 

23 acres of wheat $202 50 

17i acres wheat 104 90 

9£ acres spring wheat 68 30 

2£ acres rye 14 75 

5i acres barley 40 25 

12 acres oats 88 00 

28i acres corn - 216 27 

1 acre potatoes 10 00 

103 sheep 60 00 

Cattle and colt 47 00 

Pork 40 00 

Apples, peaches, bees, turkeys, &c 10 00 

21 acres timothy seed , 45 00 

Total $946 87' $2287 31 

The preceding twelve accounts kept of farms in the most widely 
separated parts of the State, will be sufficient to give the reader an 
idea of the comparative profitableness of husbandry in Illinois. To 
these accounts we now add several other communications, which, 
though not calculations themselves, serve nevertheless very well to 
show that the Illinoisian farmer has all reason to be satisfied with his 
lot, 

John Williams, Esq., of New Albany, Coles Co., says, in a letter 
dated Dec. 23, 1855 : 

" I can raise on my farm, and have done it, 60 to 100 bushels of corn to the 
acre ; 30 to 40 bushels of wheat per acre, and every kind of vegetables in the 
greatest abundance. I harvested off my farm this season 15,000 bushels of 
corn ; two men raised for me with but little more than their own labor, about 
7,000 bushels of corn and oats; this corn is now worth in the crib over 25 
cents per bushel. My neighbors raised from 25 to 38 bushels of wheat 4>er 
acre, and sold it on the spot at from $1 25 to $1 30 per bushel. Early in the 
season, Mr. Cuthbertson, a neighbor of mine, sold the crop of wheat off of 50 
acres of land, as it stood, for $1500, cash." 

" The " Chicago Democratic Press," dated Dec. 23, 1855,. states 
that, in that year, Mr. Lewis Prettyman derived from his farm of 80 
acres, the sum of $3965, receiving, among others, $230 for cider, 
$460 for apples, $10 for pears, $20 for asparagus, and other pot- 
herbs, $375 for wheat, $168 for oats, $1320 for Indian corn, $20 for 
potatoes, $200 for hay, $400 for horned cattle, $450 for horses, 
&c. ; &c 



AGRICULTURE. 305 

Peter Unzieker, Esq., of Groveland, Tazewell Co., in a letter dated 
Nov. 20, 1855, says the following : 

"In 1848, I purchased a farm of 182 acres, together with a dwelling house 
and a good well, for $1,250; in 1853, a man from Pennsylvania offered me 
$4000 cash for it, and if I would sell it now, I would receive much more for 
it; but I do not think of 'it. I have now been fourteen years in America, and 
came soon after my arrival in this country to Illinois, when my resolution of 
settling here, became irrevocably fixed, and I am now very glad to have exe- 
cuted it. I am of opinion that any man, especially however, the farmer, can 
acquire and obtain in Illinois, as contented and independent a living as he 
could anywhere else. I have travelled through many States, but was never 
pleased better than when settling on the exuberant soil of Illinois." 

A short time since there appeared in the " Hunterton Gazette," 
New Jersey, a letter written by a well known citizen 'of that State, 
who, having travelled through Illinois to see whether it would be ad- 
visable for him to settle there, takes occasion to drop the following 
remarks concerning the state of affairs there. We quote from his let- 
ter the following passage : 

" Let me cite a few facts which I know to be true, however large they may 
seem to be. Mr. Peter C. Rea, who resided twelve years in Raritan, near 
Clover Hill, and emigrated to Fulton County, Illinois, in the early part of this 
year, told me he had raised and sold more wheat since he had been there, than 
he had done in twelve years he had resided in Raritan. He simply raked and 
burned the cornstalks in the spring, and without ploughing the ground, sowed 
it with spring wheat, and harrowed it in ; and in a few months he reaped a fine 
crop of spring wheat. He has, besides, on his farm, a good prospect for a 
crop of winter wheat. I ate at his house some bread made of the flour from 
his spring wheat, and it was as white and as good as any I ever ate in New 
Jersey. He also told me he should probably make as much money this year 
in Illinois, as he did in twelve years in New Jersey. 

" I saw a farmer in Peoria County, who lived on a rented farm of eighty 
acres, «for which he paid $200 rent for the land, and $26 for the house ; he 
did all his work himself, except some help in planting corn ; had one team of 
horses, and after paying his rent and supporting his family, would clear one 
thousand dollars this year. 

" My friend, Mr. D. H. L. Sutphen, of Pike County, formerly of this county, 
had a field sown with wheat, and harvested therefrom upwards of 3000 bushels. 
He hired everything done, and 'if I remember correctly, had cleared over and 
above all expenses, about $2000 by the operation. He introduced me to a 
gentleman by the name of Simpkins, in that county, who came there a few 
years ago with nothing save his health and his hands. He was now farming, 
and he told us that he would sell this year, produce from his farm amounting 
to between $17,000 and $18,000. I saw his hog-pen, containing 481 fat hogs, 
which would average 350 pounds each." 

26* u 



306 AGRICULTURE. 

D. L. Phillippi, Esq., of Anna, Uoion Co., in a letter dated 22d 
Jan., 1856, recites as proof of the facility with which a man may ac- 
quire an easy, independent competence, in Illinois, the following 
facts : 

"Winstead Davis, Esq, a native of Tennessee, came to Jonesboro thirty 
years ago, without means of any kind. He has been for many years both 
merchant and farmer. Owns now many thousand acres of land, and has suc- 
ceeded well as a merchant. Has under cultivation between 2500 and 3000 
acres of land. Rent corn this year, at 10 bushels per acre, 12,000 bushels ; 
he is supposed to be worth $300,000. 

" Willis Willard, Esq., a native of Vermont, farmer and merchant, com- 
menced in the world penniless, and was left an orphan when very young. 
Owns, say 10,000 acres of land — possibly much more. Has, perhaps, 2000 
acres in cultivation. Is one of the heaviest dry goods dealers in the southern 
half of the State, and is estimated to be worth §250,000 or $300,000. Mr. 
"Willard came to Jonesboro when a small lad. 

"Jacob Randleman, farmer and tanner, a native of North Carolina, came to 
Union County when quite young ; commenced poor ; has now some 500 acres 
of land in cultivation ; sold during the past year his crop of wheat to Messrs. 
Bennett & Scott, the amount was 3000 bushels, for which he received nearly 
$4000. Has on hand now, for sale, 4000 bushels of corn. Has always been 
healthy, and has raised a large family of healthy children." 

To this he adds : 

" Hundreds of other men might be named, who have succeeded well on a 
smaller scale, who commenced here without a dollar." 

Jas. Philipps, Esq., of Nashville, Washington Co., in a letter dated 
Dec. 26, 1855, states the following instances, in which men acquired 
wealth by agricultural pursuits, in Illinois : 

" There is Mr. K , who came here a poor adventurer, with nothing of 

this world's goods ; he went to farming, continued it assiduously, turning his 
farm produce into stock, his stock into cash, and his cash into lands. He is 
now worth about fifty thousand dollars. 

"A son of the preceding commenced about ten years ago, doing business 
for himself. He had about one thousand dollars to start with, and has gone 
on increasing his wealth at the rate of a thousand a year. This was done ex- 
clusively by farming. 

Colonel P came here as one of the early pioneers of this country, went 

to tilling the land, and followed it up to the present time, engaging in nothing 
else ; he is now worth about twenty thousand, having begun with less than one 
hundred dollars." He adds : " These are a few of many that might be cited. 
Dne remark about this country ; one fair crop of any of the usual grains grown 
here, is worth, when harvested, what the land will cost; so that an emigrant 
?an easily calculate what he can do on an average. Thus, if he can plant and 
till one hundred acres of land by putting in corn or wheat, he can pretty safely 
estimate that when he threshes his wheat, or cribs his corn, it will be worth 



AGRICULTURE. 307 

the prime cost of his one hundred acres of land. This is not all ; for when his 
land is ploughed and fenced, it is worth double what it was before subju- 
gation." 

The " Prairie Farmer/' of May 6th, 1856, says : " A farmer in 
Morgan County, sold last year, $60,000 worth of cattle, at a very 
handsome profit/' 

Jno. S. Barger, Esq., in his above mentioned letter, states as proof 
how easily fortunes are made here, the following facts : 

" I will now give you a concise history of the operations of Mr. Funk. Both 
before and since his marriage he had made rails for his neighbors, at twenty- 
five cents per hundred. But when the lands where he lived came into market, 
25 years ago, he had saved of his five years' earnings $1400, and says if he 
had invested it all in lands, he would now have been rich. With $200 he 
bought his first quarter-section, and loaned to his neighbors $800 to buy their 
homes ; and with the remaining $400 he purchased a lot of cattle. With this 
beginning, Mr. Funk now owns 7000 acres of land, has near 2700 in cultiva- 
tion, and his last year's sale of cattle and hogs, at the Chicago market, 
amounted to a little over $44,000. 

" Mr. Isaac Funk, of Funk's Grove, nine miles distant from his brother Jesse, 
and ten miles northwest from Bloomington, on the Mississippi and Chicago 
Railroad, began the world in Illinois, at the same time, having a little the ad- 
vantage of Jesse, so far as having a little borrowed capital. He now owns 
about 27,000 acres of land, has about 4000 acres in cultivation, and his last 
sales of cattle amounted to $65,000." 

We do not consider it a matter of any importance, that there exist 
such rich men in Illinois as the Funks : for wealth may be inherited, 
and fast by the most magnificent wealth the most squalid poverty may 
drop her bitter tears j but we consider it a matter of no small moment, 
that the Funks have risen to their present condition from that of 
humble day-laborers; that they acquired this enormous amount of 
property in Illinois, and that all those willing to devote themselves to 
agriculture, can easily acquire wealth and independence in Illinois. 
Illinois is the paradise of the farmer; we have above stated several 
instances, in which the purchase-money was either wholly, or almost 
wholly, repaid by the produce of the first harvest. These are not 
such rare occurrences as will only happen under the most favorable 
circumstances, but it is the usual course of development, as it is con- 
ditioned by the state of affairs in the country; whoever would take the 
trouble of travelling through Illinois, in order to collect such instances, 
would have to register thousands of such cases. 



308 ' AGRICULTURE. 

After haying thus presented to the eyes of our readers various cal- 
culations of the average yield of an Illinoisian farm, we cannot con- 
clude this present chapter without having submitted to him also a 
very interesting parallel between the profitableness of rural economy 
in Illinois on the one hand, and that of husbandry in other Western 
States, on the other. This parallel is thus drawn up in a little inte- 
resting pamphlet just published by A. Campbell, Esq., of La Salle, 
entitled " A Glance at Illinois." 

"Now if the following plan were adopted, it would probably be as profitable 
a division as could be made for farming purposes, and would suit the means 
and views of a majority of farmers, as well as any other which could be made : 
— Say with a farm of 160 acres, you appropriate 40 acres to buildings, or- 
chards, and pasture grounds ; upon which also may be raised the vegetables 
for the family, and a portion of the provender for the stock ; 20 acres for mow- 
ing ; 30 acres for wheat, and 70 acres for corn. 

"We will assume that the wheat and corn crops are the only ones of which 
the farmer will have any surplus. This may of course be varied to suit the 
views and circumstances of the cultivator, but will not materially affect the 
general result. With fair farming, 20 bushels of wheat to the acre is not too 
large an estimate, nor are 50 bushels of corn by any means a large average 
yield upon our rich prairie lands. Therefore, assuming the above to be a fair 
estimate of the yield, we have 

30 acres of wheat, at 20 bushels per acre — = 600 bushels. 

70 acres of corn, at 50 bushels per acre = 3500 bushels. 

" Now if you retain 200 bushels of wheat, for seed and family use, and 900 
bushels of corn, for working stock, and fattening animals for family use, both 
of which allowances are, undoubtedly, sufficiently large — you will have left for 
market, 400 bushels of wheat, and 2600 bushels of corn, — in all 3000 bushels 
of grain. 

"And as this is a strictly agricultural country, it must depend upon an 
eastern or foreign market for the sale of its surplus produce. And with the 
present and prospective railroad facilities, communicating with Lake Michi- 
gan, we are safe in assuming that, as a general thing, all surplus north of the 
40th parallel of latitude, not only in this State, but from the country west, 
must inevitably, by the laws of trade, find its outlet to the eastern market by 
what is termed the Northern or Lake route. 

"Although there is a considerable consumption of meat and grain upon the 
sugar and cotton plantations of the south, and in the West Indies, the country 
south of the line we have named, is at all times fully adequate to the supply, 
except in case of a short crop. 

" A bushel of grain is worth upon the farm as much less as the cost of car- 
rying it to market. And the cost of transporting wheat or corn by railroad, 
is about eight cents per bushel per hundred miles, and for meats about fifteen 
cents per hundred pounds, per hundred miles. The average cost per bushel 
for transporting wheat or corn from Chicago to Buffalo, by way of the lakes, 
will not exceed seven cents, during the season of navigation; while from 
Cleveland to Buffalo, it is about four cents per bushel. 

"Now as the comparative advantage of different points in the west, for 
farming purposes, is the object we wish to arrive at, suppose, in making a 



AGRICULTURE. — SOIL. 309 

comparison, we take for one locality, the vicinity of Columbus, Ohio :— another, 
80 miles west or southwest of Chicago, in Illinois, on the line of any of the nu- 
merous railroads diverging westerly or southwesterly from that point. For a 
third,. Iowa, City, the capital of Iowa, which is 242 miles west of Chicago ; and 
Fort Des Moines, in Iowa, for a fourth ; this is 367 miles west of Chicago, by 
way of the Rock Island Railroad, which is now completed to Iowa City, and 
in process of construction to Fort Des Moines. 

" From Columbus, Ohio, to Cleveland, 125 miles, at eight cents per hundred 
miles, by railroad, the cost would be ten cents ; from thence to Buffalo by the 
way of Lake Erie, four cents ; from thence to New York, twelve cents ; total, 
twenty-six cents. From the points 80 miles west or south-west of Chicago, by 
railroad, it would be seven cents to Chicago ; from thence to Buffalo, seven 
cents ; from thence to New York, twelve cents ; total, twenty-six cents. From 
Iowa City to Chicago, 242 miles, the cost would be nineteen cents per btishel ; 
thence to Buffalo, seven cents ; thence to New York, twelve cents, would give 
a total of thirty-eight cents, from Iowa City to New York. From Fort Des 
Moines to Chicago, 367 miles, the cost would be twenty-nine cents ; from thence 
to Buffalo, seven cents ; thence to New York twelve cents ; total cost, from Fort 
Des Moines to New York, forty-eight cents. And in like ratio for any dis- . 
tance greater or less. 

"The value of the crop upon a farm of 160 acres, at Columbus, Ohio, and 
upon one of the same size 80 miles from Chicago, are equal ; whilst there is a 
difference in favor of the latter over the one at Iowa City, of 360 dollars ; and 
over the one at Fort Des Moines, in Iowa, of 660 dollars. Three hundred and 
sixty dollars will pay an interest of six per cent upon a valuation of $6000; 
and $600 is the interest at the same rate upon $10,000. This shows that a 
farm of 160 acres within 80 miles of Chicago, is worth $6000 more than one 
of the same size in the vicinity of Iowa City; which is equal to $37 50 per 
acre, and $1100 more than one at Fort Des Moines; which is equal to $68 75 
per acre, when appropriated to raising grain." 

SOIL. 

In regard to agriculture, the soil of Illinois is divided into three 
classes. On the prairies it is a vegetable mould of different depth, on 
a substratum from 3 to 4 feet thick, of rich mulatto loam or clay, 
being in most cases entirely free from stones, and requiring only a 
single tilling in order to produce all the various species of corn and 
fruits peculiar to these latitudes. The wild grass growing on the 
prairies furnishes a very nutritious article of food, which will at once 
account for the universal renown of the beef of Illinois. 

The bottom lands skirted by the rivers are of extraordinary fertility, 
but exposed to frequent inundations, and covered with tall forest trees. 
Here the vegetable mould attains a depth of from three to twelve feet ; 
its inexhaustibility is easily accounted for \>y the consideration that 
the rivers impregnated with the humus of the prairies through which 
they flow, deposit it in the bottom lands, whenever a rise of the water 
causes the latter to be inundated. 



310 BREAKING THE SOIL. 

The soil of the openings covered with scattered trees of the forest, 
and these mostly oak, though not as good as that of the prairies, will 
yet yield as fine a crop without any manure, as can be obtained in the 
Eastern States with the aid of manure. 

But it should be added that the character of the soil differs in the 
different sections of the State. The substratum is clay, (this is inva- 
riably the case in Central Illinois), which precludes the idea that the 
fertility of the soil ever could be lost. By injudicious tillage the 
lands may, after years, tire, but can never be worn out. Upon the 
large water-courses, and in the extreme north and south, the soil is 
sandy, and the substratum sand and gravel, with some clay. In Cen- 
tral Illinois the soil is without sand; on the undulating, or rolling 
prairies, the soil is of a mulatto, or yellow cast; on the level lands it 
is black ; but no difference can be discovered in the fertility of these 
two-thirds of soil, both producing equally well all kinds of grain and 
grasses. The depth of the black soil is from twenty to thirty inches ; 
the yellow from fifteen to twenty-four inches. It is the prevailing 
opinion that the level or table-lands stand a drought better than the 
rolling. The soil in Central Illinois partakes largely of limestone, 
without the appearance of the stone itself, therefore rendering it the 
more valuable, and easy of cultivation, and causing it to stand a long 
and continued drought, with less injury to growing crops than those 
portions of the country where rock is interspersed through the culti- 
vated lands. 

BREAKING THE SOIL. 

It is difficult to place a man in any situation where he feels more 
like an honest conqueror than he does when turning over the verdant 
turf of the prairies. His plough must have a keen edge, and cut from 
twenty-two to thirty-six inches wide. A thin sod of two or three 
inches thick is cut smooth and turned completely upside down. The 
bottom of the furrow and top of the reversed sod are as smooth as if 
sliced with a keen knife. Every green thing is turned out of sight, 
and nothing is visible but the fresh soil. When the prairie is broken, 
and the sod has time to decompose, the land is thoroughly subdued, 
and in a good condition for any crop — not a stump or a stone in the 
way, over a whole quarter section ; free from weeds, rich, fresh, and 
mellow; it is the fault of the farmer if it is not kept so. 



FENCING. 311 

Some farmers are accustomed to cross-plough the land, about two 
months after it has been broken, but others say cross-ploughing is not 
necessary; however, it will do no harm to the land if cross-ploughed, 
but increase its fertility. 

The cost of breaking prairie is from two to three dollars per acre; 
and it is principally done by men who keep teams for the purpose, 
and do their work by the job. A three-horse team will break two 
acres per day, and a heavy ox-team with a 36 inch plough, will break 
three acres per day. 

The breaking of prairie is done in the different sections of the coun- 
try at different times ; say from the 1st of May till the 20th of July, 
monthly from the 10th of May till the 20th of June. 

FENCING. 

After the farmer has broken his land, his next care must be to en- 
close it with a fence in order to secure his crops against the cattle. 
You may find in Illinois all sorts of fences, from the clumsy zig-zag 
fence, to the hardly visible, cheap, and wood-saving wire fence ; 
that fence, however, which is the most conformable to the purpose, 
the cheapest, and at the same time the most embellishing, is the 
living, to wit : the Madura hedge, which, with every new year, may 
be seen planted and growing more and more. 

Referring to the special chapter, wherein the culture of the Madura 
hedge is more particularly described, we shall here call the attention 
of our readers to the fact, that every farmer commencing his business 
here, should at once proceed to plant this hedge, which affords most 
ample security against all kinds of animals, provided his means per- 
mit him to do so. Although it is true, that such a hedge will first 
afford security four years after its being finished, so that during that 
time another fence must be erected outside of the Madura hedge, the 
money expended on it is not lost, but amply compensated for, since 
the live hedge affording perfect protection at the end of this time, the 
other fence may either be sold, or its wood used for some other pur- 
pose. 

The two best kinds of wood fences are the zig-zag, and the board 
fence. He who is about erecting the first, and owns no wooded tract 
of land, should purchase a couple of acres, and have the rails split 



312 DIVISION OF FARMS. 

under his immediate supervision. The hewing and splitting is usually 
paid for at the rate of one dollar for every hundred, the wood costing 
about as much, so that the expenses of fencing must he computed not 
higher than three dollars for every hundred rails. To diminish the 
cost, it would be advisable for friends to purchase contiguous lots, so 
that for the tracts owned by them, only one external fence would be 
required at first. Twenty acres will require 4704 ; forty acres, 6720 r 
one hundred and sixty acres, 13,440 ; and a full section, or six hun- 
dred and forty acres, 28,880 cross-beams. 

In building board fences, iron posts and pine boards are made use 
of, and constructed in such a manner that two posts and three boards 
constitute a panel. The cost would be for boards and hauling $1 15 
per rod; the boards for 320 rods of fencing, the amount for 40 acres, 
would cost $368. About 700 posts, at eleven cents each, would cost 
877 ; for putting up the fence the cost would be — for digging post 
holes and setting posts, $28; for nails, $19; for nailing, $14; making 
the whole cost of fencing 40 acres, $506. For enclosing 640 acres in 
one field, the cost is four times as much, viz., $2,024. 

DIVISION OF FARMS, ROTATION OF CROPS, AND MANURING. 

The division of a farm after the various species of corn and other 
products, of course depends on the northern or southern exposure of 
the farm. We may, however, regard it as a division conformable to 
the purpose, if one-half of the entire tract of land destined for the cul- 
ture of grains and vegetables is planted with Indian corn, while three- 
fourths of the residue are sown equally with wheat and oats. The 
culture of barley, rye, and potatoes, depends upon the character of the 
respective farms, and their comparative distance from the markets. 

Heretofore but little has been said concerning the rotation of crops 
in Illinois; the exuberant soil yields whatever is required from it, and 
most farmers deeming it unnecessary to pay any regard to the land, 
are under the impression of best guarding their interests by exclusively 
cultivating that which commands the highest price at the time. 
While one cultivates Indian corn and wheat for a succession often or 
fifteen years, or more, another will plant Indian corn for a few years, 
next oats, and then wheat in the stubble of the oats, repeating this 
for several times, after which he plants again Indian corn. A third 
27 



ROTATION OF CROPS. — MANURING. 313 

will first plant Indian corn for a couple of years, then winter-barley, 
after which oats. Thus, without caring much about a fixed order of 
crops, a majority of the farmers will husband and grow rich within a 
short time, without considering, however, that a proper succession of 
crops would considerably increase and enhance their wealth. 

Little as on most farms a fixed succession of crops, that would ne- 
cessitate a division of the entire farming lands into certain fields, is 
observed, a manuring of the soil is never thought of. It is true, as 
we have already mentioned, that the rich soil of Illinois produces with- 
out any manure at all ; yet how much larger would its produce be, 
were that which by annual cultivation is withdrawn from the soil, res- 
tored to it by manuring the same. 

The average produce of an acre of Indian corn has been stated by 
us at 56 bushels; we now cite an instance to show how enormously 
this amount may be swelled by cultivation and by manure. 

Two years ago, three men in Ogle County vied with each other to 
see who would raise the best acre of corn, and obtain the premium 
to be awarded at the County Fair. Each manured his land slightly, 
and cultivated it well with the hoe ; and the result was that they ob- 
tained respectively 127, 131, and 134 bushels from the acre. 

But if such results can be attained, would it not amply compensate 
a farmer for his trouble in directing his undivided attention to this 
subject, the more since, by being manured, the land would not become 
exhausted, but on the contrary be rendered more valuable and pro- 
ductive ? 

"We cannot abstain from quoting, what in regard of the succession 
of crops, and general cultivation of farms, is said in his letter to Brow- 
man Murray, by Mr. Jas. N. Brown, of Island Grove, the former Pre- 
sident of the Illinois State Agricultural Society; in which letter, 
after stating the productiveness of an acre at from 20 to 25 bushels 
of wheat, 60 to 80 of oats, and 40 to 50 of Indian corn, he proceeds as 
follows : 

" Such poor results should not "be, except from an imperfect system of til- 
lage. "When the farmer breaks his land from three to four or five inches deep, 
the plough cutting ten or twelve inches, and covering five or six more, (thus 
leaving one-third of the ground untouched), covers the corn with a horse, 
ploughs the crop three times, and twice out of the three times ploughs with 
two furrows in the row, and this completes the tillage : it is surprising that he 

27 



314 MANURING. 

raises any crop at all. And yet the fertility of our soil is such that it yields 
abundance to such poor cultivation as this, whilst in other parts of our coun- 
try such results are not obtained except by judicious culture and rotation of 
crops. Such culture and rotation I warmly recommend. After turning over 
the prairie sod, cultivate three or four years in corn, then oats or rye, which 
should be pastured and turned under, then corn again ; and then clover and 
timothy for four or five years. Be careful not to burn any manure that may 
be on the land, such as corn stalks for stubble, as is the custom of many of our 
best farmers, who seem to forget that it is as important to feed their land as 
to feed their stock, and that no labor pays so great a return as the labor ex- 
pended in manuring their lands intended for the plow. Haul your manure, 
and feed stock on lands intended for corn, during the autumn and winter ; 
being careful to keep the stock from stubble land, when soft and rainy ; the 
treading of sod in soft weather in winter will not injure the land intended for 
corn or grass the next year. Our yield by adopting this or a similar system, 
(with four workings, the first with a two-horse harrow, and thinning and 
suckering the corn when about knee high), would be from eighty to one hun- 
dred bushels per acre. 

" In confirmation of the foregoing views I give the following experiment: — 
Last April I broke thirty-five acres of old pasture land; the first portion has 
been in grass eighteen years, the second portion fourteen, the third part ten 
or twelve years. The portion that had been in grass eighteen years I par- 
tially manured with dung from the horse and cow yards, and turned under im- 
mediately after spreading it. The whole field was prepared in the same man- 
ner with the exception of the manure. It was all planted the same week in 
May, and received the same tillage, to wit : one harrowing and three plough- 
ings, with suckering and thinning out to three and four stalks in a hill. The 
distance of the rows apart was four feet by three, and the yield was as follows : 
— That portion that had been in grass eighteen years, and was partially ma- 
nured, contained nine and a half acres, yielded a hundred bushels to the acre ; 
the second piece, fourteen years in grass, and manured six or seven years 
since, produced one hundred and twenty-three bushels per acre — number of 
acres, five and two-thirds; the third lot, ten years in grass, twenty acres, 
yielded eighty bushels per acre. It will be seen from the above experiment, 
that by an imperfect system of rotation in crops, and rather poor farming, I 
have increased my yield of corn over the common yield of our virgin soil, from 
twenty to one hundred per cent. My land, after nineteen years' cultivation, 
affords a larger yield of corn and grass than it did when fresh, and is conse- 
quently more valuable." 

From the preceding it will appear, that by manuring, a proper cul- 
tivation, and succession of crops, a much higher product will be 
attained, than the soil by itself is able to bring forth. On the other 
hand we shall not omit to point out the fact, that the very largely 
prevalent opinion that the soil of Illinois is totally inexhaustible, and 
of indestructible fertility, rests on a slight error. Even the deepest 
well can at last be emptied, and the most fertile soil, whose produc- 
tive powers are used without being restored again, must, at last, either 



MANURING 



3±r> 



partially or wholly lose its fertility. No doubt much time will be re- 
quired to exhaust the soil of Illinois so far, that even very deep 
ploughing should be found insufficient to insure good harvests; yet, 
unless the farmers can be persuaded, that the preservation of the fer- 
tility of the soil requires those productive powers, which it has ex- 
pended in bringing forth a crop, to be restored to it, that time must 
speedily arrive. And further, but few farmers perceive that by wast- 
ing the straw of their wheat, they inflict as great an injury upon them- 
selves, as they would by destroying the very wheat, since the produc- 
tion of wheat depends upon the production of straw ; a feeble halm 
will but rarely bear a stout ear; and if you insist upon being wasteful, 
you might as well feed the cattle with the wheat, as with the straw 
upon which it grew. A good field of wheat yields about 2000 pounds 
of straw per acre, which entire weight, save only the carbonate which 
it contains, is withdrawn from the soil, thus diminishing its produc- 
tiveness for the following harvest, by just the same amount; therefore 
we are right in saying that if the straw is cut close to the ground, by 
the reaper, as is usually the case, this would be no less a prodigality 
than to feed the cattle on the wheat altogether. So much of the straw 
taken from the acre as would be restored to it, would increase the 
faculty of producing new straw on the part of the soil; on the straw 
the wheat thrives well, and luxuriant halms bear stout ears. 

The soil of the prairies has been stated above to consist generally 
of clay, which much impedes the further descent of the water trick- 
ling down to it from the surface — thus protecting and securing the 
natural fertility of the soil, and preventing the escape of the powers 
derived by the soil from being manured; on the other hand, it must be 
admitted, that this property of the soil is the reason why many level 
sections of the prairies are frequently wet, and thus unfit for advan- 
tageous and immediate cultivation of corn. Such humidity on the 
part of the soil will in most cases admit of being obviated by deep 
ploughing and manuring; often deep ploughing will be found sufficient 
to obviate the difficulty; where, however, deep ploughing or manuring 
should not prove adequate to accomplishing this object, a few ditches 
properly dug will not fail to dry the land. 



316 LABOR, WAGES, AND FARM IMPLEMENTS. 
LABOR, WAGES, AND FARM IMPLEMENTS. 

What Illinois requires is a further increase of her laboring popula- 
tion, the farmers in every section of the State loudly complaining of the 
want of hands, adding that much more land might be tilled, if a suffi- 
cient number of hands could be found for the purpose. We subjoin 
a review of the wages, which, during 1855, were paid in the various 
sections of the State : 

County. Monthly wages, (with hoard.) Daily wages. 

Cass $12 00 to $20 00 $1 00 to $2 00 

DeKalb 12 00" 20 00 

DuPage..... 10 00" 12 00 

Jo Daviess 10 00 " 15 00 

Macoupin 14 00" 15 00 100" 175 

Marshall 15 00" 18 00 100" 150 

McLean 12 00" 20 00 100" 150 

Peoria 12 00" 16 00 

Rock Island 100" 100 

Sangamon 12 00" 16 00 

St. Clair 10 00" 14 00 75" 150 

Tazewell 125" 150 

Woodford 12 00" 16 00 100" 150 

Will 15 00 100" 175 

Winnebago 15 00" 20 00 

The higher rates are, of course, only paid during the harvest, but 
these, in many counties, exceed the above amounts; the remuneration 
in winter is less than that in summer. Much new land having been 
broken during 1855, many farmers express their fears that wages will 
be still higher in 1856. 

The many difficulties which a single farmer has to surmount, in the 
pursuit of his business, render it difficult to determine how much 
work a man with two horses is able to perform; from thirty to forty 
acres, it is usually reckoned, can be easily tilled by a single man, pro- 
vided he procures himself some hand to assist him during harvest time. 
Two men with four horses can easily till one hundred acres, and three 
men with five horses one hundred and sixty acres. We know of a 
man who, together with a boy of some twelve years, and now and then 
with an assistant (who, however, did not cau^e him more than fifteen 
dollars annual expense), and five horses, tilled a farm of forty acres 
of Indian corn, ten acres of wheat, ten acres of oats, six acres of flax, 



FARM IMPLEMENTS. 317 

ten acres of prairie, besides breaking some twenty acres of new prairie, 
and sowing it with sod corn. 

Two acres are estimated a good day's work for a single team of 
horses, and one and a half for oxen ; on many places, however, more 
is done. Many farmers prefer horses to oxen, horses always having 
this advantage, that they go faster; and many farmers also contend 
that they turn up the land better than oxen. A man walks about 
twenty-five miles while ploughing a day. 

What facilitates the labor of a farmer in the west, and especially in 
Illinois, is the use of mechanical power, as the same is employed in 
the Eastern States — excellent agricultural machines being, in fact, 
turned out in the west. Most of the ploughs are made of steel plates, 
and are polished on wheels, so as to shine like mirrors, furrowing the 
soil to a great depth. There are ploughs which furrow the ground 
for the breadth of forty inches. That such large, smooth, and sharp 
ploughs, will do their work much faster than others, is self-evident. 
Very good ploughs are turned out by the manufactory of J. Drew, 
Moline, Rock Island County. 

Wheat and other grain is usually sown with the rotation-sowing 
machine, by the use of which seed and time are saved, and a success- 
ful crop ensured. The machines most frequently used were invented 
by Piersons and Garling. 

The grains are in most cases gathered by harvesting machines, the 
most excellent of which are those of McCormick and Henry, to which 
were awarded the highest premiums at the " World's Fair." 

For the cutting of hay on the prairies, reapers are used, and espe- 
cially those of Scoville, Danforth and McCormick. 

Lastly, the threshing is done by threshing machines, either at once, 
on the fields, or in the barns. 

While speaking of agricultural implements, we shall here particu- 
larly mention two machines, which, though not yet introduced into 
Illinois, seem so wel.l adapted and calculated for that State, that it 
cannot be long ere they are introduced : we refer to the steam plough, 
and the wind-mills. 

With the first, whose inventor, Mr. Obed Hassey, also probably 
constructed the first reaping machine, experiments were not long ago 
made at the exhibition of the Maryland Agricultural Society, that 
27* 



818 FARM IMPLEMENTS. 

proved completely satisfactory. The machine steamed alone to the 
field, distant two and a half miles, where the experiment was to be 
made; there four great turf ploughs being attached to it, it entered 
upon its task, furrowing the earth fourteen inches deep. The plough- 
ing was exceedingly well done, many of the farmers present expres- 
sing their opinions to the effect, that the machine was particularly 
adapted for breaking the soil of the prairie. We trust it will not be 
long ere we shall see the steam plough furrowing the fertile soil of the 
Xllinoisiau prairies, and thus annually and more rapidly than ever be- 
fore, subjugating to culture many thousands of new acres. 

Of wind-mills there are but few, as yet, in Illinois, though the 
large prairies are admirably adapted for the use of the wind, as me- 
chanical power. Perceiving this, several gentlemen of Rochester, N. 
Y., have formed themselves into a company, to erect, during 1856, 
fifty windmills on the western prairies; and in Peoria a company has 
been organized for a like purpose. The mill to be constructed by the 
last will contain two different milling apparatus, the grinding stones 
used in which are four feet in diameter; the whole, including the 
building and the right of using the patent, to cost $4000. A mill 
thus constructed in Rochester, will grind thirty bushels of grain per 
hour, and it being estimated, that these mills can be in active operation 
for full ten months in a year, they ought to be preferred on this ac- 
count, if on no other, to water-mills, since but few of the latter might 
be found in constant operation for such a length of time. 

Five bushels of prime wheat will make one barrel of superfine flour, 
leaving a handsome pay to the miller. 

Another project for the purpose of rendering available the power of 
wind, has been started by Mr. M. D. Codding, of Lockport, Will Co., 
who has, three miles from that place, established a machine-factory, 
and, for the above purpose, has constructed a machine which, simple, 
substantial, and low-priced, Can be used for a number of purposes; for 
instance— for sawing wood, whetting stones, pumping water, etc. Mr. 
Codding turns out these machines of any power desired, from that of 
one man- to twenty horse power. A machine of one horse power, in- 
clusive of gearing, can be had for $25 to $30; the expense of larger 
machines of this kind not exceeding a- just proportion to this. 



INDIAN CORN. 319 

INDIAN CORN. 

There are a great number of varieties of corn in cultivation, and 
these varieties have become considerably intermingled. The princi- 
pal varieties, which may be distinguished by the number of rows or 
grains, on the cob, and the color, shape or size of the kernels, may be 
classified and described as follows : 

1. Yellow Corn, Golden Sioux, or Northern Flint Corn; having a 
large cob, with twelve rows of moderate sized grains, very oily, and is 
regarded as one of the best varieties for fattening animals, or for hu- 
man food. By skilful tillage, 130 bushels have been raised to the 
acre, weighing 9,216 lbs. in the ear, when dry : 75 lbs. of ears gave 
a bushel when shelled. 

2. King Philip, or the Eight-Rowed Yellow Corn. Its ears, which 
contain only eight rows, are longer than those of the Golden Sioux, 
and it will yield about the same quality of oil. It is a hardy plant, 
which belongs to a high latitude; grows to about nine feet in height; 
stalks small, ears from ten to fourteen inches in length. 

3. Canada Corn, or Eighteen-Rowed Yellow. This corn, which is 
smaller, earlier, and more solid than any of the preceding, contains 
more oil than "any other variety, except the Rice Corn, and the Pop 
Corn. It is exceedingly valuable for fattening poultry, swine, &c, 
and is grown by many in gardens, for early boiling. 

4. Dutton Corn. The cob sometimes grows to the length of four- 
teen or fifteen inches, but the grain is so compact upon it that two 
bushels of small ears have yielded five pecks of shelled corn, weighing 
62 lbs. to the bushel. With proper management, an acre of ground 
will yield one hundred to one hundred and twenty bushels to the 
acre. As it is very oily, gives a good yield, and ripens early, it has 
always been a favorite variety for culture in the north. 

5. Southern Big Yellow Corn. The cob of this corn is thick and 
long, the grain much wider than it. is deep, and the rows unite with 
each other. The grain contains less oil and more starch than the 
Northern Flint kinds; yet its outward texture is somewhat flinty, 
solid and firm. It comes to maturity rather later, affords an abun- 
dant yield, and is much used for fattening animals. 

6. Southern Small Yellow Corn. The ears of this variety are more 



320 INDIAN CORN. 

slender, as well as shorter than the last named ; the grains are smaller 
though of the same form, of a deep yellow, more firm and flinty, and 
contain an abundance of oil, which renders it more valuable for the 
purpose of shipping, or for feeding poultry or swine. 

1. Rhod«e Island White Flint Corn. The grains of this variety are 
about the size and shape of those of the Tuscarora Corn, but differ 
from them in containing an abundance of a transparent and colorless 
oil, which may be easily seen through their clear, pellucid hulls. The 
farinaceous parts of the grains are white, and as the quantity of oil 
which they contain is large, the flour or meal is more substantial as 
an article of food, and less liable to ferment and become sour. 

2. Southern Little White Flint Corn. The kernels of this variety 
are considerably smaller than those of the preceding, and much re- 
semble them in shape, but they are more firm and solid, contain more 
oil, and consequently are of more value for feeding poultry and swine, 
and for human food. 

8. Dutton White Flint Corn. A variety not differing materially 
from the Yellow Dutton Corn, except in the color of the oft. 

4. Early Canadian White Flint Corn. Cultivated principally for 
early boiling or roasting, while green. 

5. Tuscarora Corn. The ears contain from twelve to sixteen rows 
of grains, which are nearly as deep as they are broad, of a dead whitish 
color on the extreme end, are entirely composed within of pure, white 
dextrine, and starch, except the germs. As it contains neither gluten 
nor oil, it may be profitably employed in the manufacture of starch. It 
is much softer and better food for horses than the flinty kind, and if 
used before it becomes sour, it may be converted into excellent bread. 
It is also an excellent variety for boiling, when green, or in the milky 
state. 

6. White Flint Corn. The ears of this variety contain twelve 
rows of rather white, roundish, thick grains, which are filled with a 
snowy white flour, composed principally of starch, but does not con- 
tain either gluten or oil. It is much used. As it possesses similar 
properties with the preceding variety, it may be profitably employed 
for the same purpose. It is also an excellent variety for boiling, 
when green. 

7. Virginia White Seed Corn. The ears of this corn, which are 



INDIAN CORN. 321 

not very long, (nor is the cob so long as those of the Big White, or 
Yellow Flint), contain from twenty-four to thirty-six rows of very long, 
narrow grains. These grains, at their extreme ends, are almost flat, 
and grow so closely together from the cob to the surface, that they 
produce a greater yield than any other variety, in proportion to the 
size of the ears. They contain more starch, and less gluten and oil, 
than those of the Flint kinds, and from their softness they serve as 
better food for horses, but are less nourishing to poultry and swine. 
This variety ripens later, though it is more productive than any other 
kind. 

8. Early Sweet Corn. There are two kinds of this corn ; one with 
the cob red, and the other white. The ears are short, and usually con- 
tain eight rows, the grains of which, when mature, are of a lighter 
color, and become shrivelled, appearing as if they were unripe. It 
contains a very large proportion of the phosphates, and a considerable 
quantity of sugar and gum, though but little starch. It is extensively 
cultivated for culinary purposes, and is delicious food when boiled 
green. 

9. Rice Corn. A small variety, with small conical ears, the ker- 
nels terminating in sharp points, which give them the appearance of 
burrs; the kernels in size and shape something like rice. It contains 
more oil and less starch than any other kind, and when ground, its 
meal cannot be made into bread alone, but is dry like sand. From 
its oily nature and peculiar size, this corn is well adapted for feeding 
poultry. 

10. Pearl Corn. Commonly called pop-corn, from the fact of its 
being used for popping, or parboiling. The ears of this variety are 
small, the grains are round, of various shades of color, the white of a 
pearly appearance ; and contain, with the rice corn, more oil and less 
starch than any other variety. 

11. Chinese Tree Corn. It is a pure white variety, a very hand- 
some ear, about ten inches long, has ten rows, grain very closely set, 
long and wedge-shaped, well filled out, to the end of the cob ; some of 
the grains slightly indented. One peculiarity of this corn is, the ears 
grow on the ends of the branches, hence its name " Tree Corn." It is 
said to yield from one-fourth to one-third more than the common va- 
rieties. When ground into meal it is handsomer and better flavored 

V 



322 INDIAN CORN. 

than the common varieties of white corn. There are generally two 
ears on a stalk, and often three. 

There are many other species of corn, but the foregoing embrace 
pretty much all those worthy of cultivation. 

To raise a good crop of corn, a man must of course have all the im- 
plements required for it. If the planting is to be done on old ground, 
the old stalks should be cut and broken down first. This is usually 
done with a roller or a cylinder of wood, which is within a square 
frame, and about four feet long, and nineteen inches in diameter, and 
has four blades placed at equal distances around it, and running its 
entire length ; drawn along by the hcrses, this instrument breaks 
down the stalks and cuts them up in fine style, leaving the stalks so 
cut about a foot long, and finishing about from six to eight acres per 
day in this manner. After this, the farmer should plough in the di- 
rection in which the stalks were broken down, so as to bring them un- 
der the earth turned up, which is easily accomplished; and never for- 
get to harrow on rough or heavy land. If he then proposes making a 
marker, he should construct four wedge-shaped forms, 2| feet long, 5 
inches thick, 10 inches wide at one end, and running to an edge at 
the other. These forms may be made of two inch plank ) and two 
floor joists, one close to the points, and the other close to the heads, 
may be laid between them. A pole being then procured for a tongue, 
the back end should be run over the front joist, and under the back 
one, and bolted at the two places where it touches them, in such a 
manner that when the end rests in the neck-yoke, the points of the 
wedges are lifted a little. A marker thus constructed, makes a broad 
mark, proof against a fortnight's rain, and destroys young weeds at 
the same time, to a great extent. The land being thus marked both 
ways, get Randall & Jones' Double Hand Planter, which is light, sub- 
stantial, and rapid, sowing two rows at once, of any number of ker- 
nels required, on pressed earth, from which the germ will sprout 
rapidly, the covering being as certain as if done with the hoe. Ten 
or twelve acres can thus be planted in a single day. 

Corn-land should always be rolled after planting, since this, in dry 
weather, will prevent evaporation and diminish the surface exposed to 
the rays of the sun. Rolling should be repeated if the land continues 
dry, in order to bring up by capillary attraction, the moisture from the 



INDIAN CORN. 323 

subsoil. In tending corn, the earth should not be turned away from 
the hill in the day-time, since this would increase the chance of its 
drying through ; and in throwing the earth up to the hill, the part of 
the stalk above the bulb, from which the supporters put out, should be 
prevented from being covered. 

One of the best cultivators known to us is that one which has the 
general form of the common dray-shaped cultivator, except that it is 
just as long and wide again as that, and the two iron bars are made 
like the beam and knees of a sleigh. Its steel teeth run very flat in 
the ground — it runs with the broad end forward, straddles a row, and 
requires two horses to draw it, but will perform twice as much work 
as can be done by any of the common methods. 

Indian corn is frequently sown as the first grain on newly-broken 
land ; but as there is no reliance to be placed upon sod corn, many 
farmers prefer to leave the broken land lying fallow, until September, 
when it is sown with wheat. The planting of sod corn is done by 
sticking an axe or a spade between the layers of sod, and after drop- 
ping the corn apply the heel of the boot freely. Some farmers prefer 
to drop the seed into every third furrow, and turn a furrow on it. If 
the latter plan is adopted, the ground must be well rolled to ensure a 
good crop. To corn put in on the sod, usually no further attention 
is paid till harvest. The times of planting and harvesting depend 
upon the. northern or southern exposure, and the harvest will often 
last until the end of November. 

In 1835, Mr. Jno. Schoonhover raised an ear which gave one 
quart and one gill of the shelled corn. 

We have just enumerated the different varieties of maize, which are 
cultivated, and before concluding this chapter we cannot forbear to 
point out a new variety, the cultivation of which has but just begun, 
viz., the Wyandott Corn. The seeds of this were obtained three 
years ago, from the - Wyandott Indians, and first cultivated by a 
farmer in Waverly, Morgan County, who produced a crop of 1 50 bushels 
per acre, and who, at the Agricultural State Fair, at Chicago, in the 
fall of 1855, sold the single ears of this variety at twenty-five cents 
each. The ears are from five to nine inches long. It is a fine, pearly 
white, has but-, little chit, and grinds nearly all into meal. A che- 
mical analysis of its properties proves it to contain a large portion of 



324 WHEAT. 

glutinous, starchy qualities, and less of spirit and strength than the 
Great Yellow Dog Tooth Corn, for which Suckerdom is famous. Thi3 
corn is planted one kernel to the hill, and sometimes in drills. The 
one kernel forms a mass of rooty fibres, often as large as a man's hat, 
and from these start up from four to nine shoots or stalks, and each 
of these stalks will bear from one to five ears. A hill of this corn 
was grown in Upper Alton, from one kernel, which multiplied to the 
extent of over eight thousand kernels. 

i 

WHEAT. 

The kinds of wheat mostly cultivated in the State of Illinois, are 
the Canada Club, Italian, Hedgerow, White Flint, and the Bio 
Grande. Spring Wheat succeeds well, but has been blighted for a 
few years past. One ploughing is deemed sufficient, and better than 
two, even on a summer fallow. No manures are used on this or any 
other crop, except that from the barn-yard, which is usually spread on 
the corn-field. With special regard to Spring Wheat, it may be of 
importance to say, that for preparing the ground, fall ploughing is 
best, since the land is in better order, and can be sown one or two 
weeks earlier, which is a great advantage. The earlier it is sown the 
better, if the ground is in order for the harrow, no matter how cold, 
the frost will not hurt young wheat. The land should by all means 
be ploughed, although some may be for ploughing in the cornstalks, 
and harrowing in. Experience has taught, that in this latter case, 
the crops at harvest have been so full of weeds, that the usual average 
proceeds were considerably diminished. Plow your lands not over 
two rods wide, and in a direction to lead off the water best; cut cross 
furrows in every slough or sag, so as to let no water stand on the 
wheat. Old land ought to be ploughed in the fall, but if ploughed in ' 
the spring, should be ploughed deeper. 

Corn stubble is preferable to wheat or oat stubble. 

The Canada Club is as good a kind as can be found. It is a good 
plan to change seeds frequently, as it has appeared that by continuing 
the same seed on the same land, it becomes diseased and sickly. To 
prevent smut wet your wheat and mingle slaked lime with it, at the 
rate of one bushel to twenty of wheat. If there are oats in the seed, 
the whole may be put in strong brine, and the oats skimmed off. It 



WHEAT. 325 

is in fact necessary to examine the seed well, for it will not grow if it 
has heated, or become musty ; but this cannot always be detected by 
the eye, and it will therefore be better to try a sample, and see what 
portion will germinate ; this will give you the quantity needed per 
acre. Of good seed, one bushel and a third to one and a half is about 
the right quantity. The " disease " it takes on, comes from sowing 
much imperfect seed, which never can produce vigorous, healthy 
plants. Let only the best seed be used, that which is free from all 
light, imperfect grains, and there will be found little " disease " or de- 
generacy. Spring Wheat is liable to grow too rank ; it should be 
sown as soon as the frost is out of the ground, that the straw may 
have a stunted growth. The winter crop may be got in at a time 
when other labor does not press, and the whole preparation for it may 
be so managed as to interfere with no other work. It is easier sown 
therefore than Spring Wheat, and moreover it is easier harvested; 
from the fact that it ripens from two to four weeks earlier, the har- 
vest season is prolonged to that extent. It will undoubtedly be both 
of great use and unparalleled interest to wheat growers and others 
who are engaged in farming, to listen to the advice and hints on the 
subject of the culture of wheat of an Illinoisian farmer, who has been 
engaged in the business in the fertile prairie sections for many years. 
He says that manures for the preparation of the soil are no more 'ne- 
cessary than the application of any other substance. The land is 
turned over in June, and ploughed deeply and thoroughly. Imme- 
diately after ploughing, the whole springs up into a dense and vigo- 
rous growth of "Pigeon Grass." The land may be left in that con- 
dition until the middle of July, when you give it a single harrowing, 
letting all the stock you can command, run and tread upon it till a 
week before sowing. Then harrow it till the surface is sufficiently 
mellowed to cover the grain ; this is best done with a drill. One- 
fourth or half an inch is enough to cover the grain. This should be 
done in the middle of September, and a plough should not be allowed 
to touch the land afterwards. The very best mode would be, to put 
it in with a cultivator, and then run a roller over it. The treading 
with the feet of cattle oh the loose prairie soil, before getting in the 
seed, is something very necessary, and should therefore not be looked 
upon with indifference and carelessness. The soil in those regions 
28 



326 WHEAT. 

is loose, and therefore must be packed together, to hold the roots of 
the wheat plants; and for the same reason it would not be a good 
practice to give the land more than one good ploughing. As confir- 
matory of this, at least as far as the packing of the soil is concerned, 
the same farmer adds, that every farmer must notice places about his 
fields, where there is a road, or the land has been tramped hard from 
some cause, where there is no killing of his wheat, even though all 
the rest of the field may be killed. He happened to put in part of a 
crop on some summer-fallowed land, without the usual ploughing be- 
fore sowing, and his surprise was great, when harvest came, to find 
that here was a splendid crop, while all the rest of his wheat had 
either failed, or turned out badly. 

It is supposed, that the common fault must be to put in the wheat 
too deep, and as usually cultivated, it is very likely the fact, that the 
depth is too great if the ground can be made to stay where it is put. 
A half inch, if the kernel is made to stay, and also the ground above 
it, is about the right depth. 

In the north of the State wheat should be sown broad-cast, and har- 
rowed both ways, or drilled in by a proper machine about the begin- 
ning of September. Wheat sown upon such land, in this manner, 
rarely fails to produce an excellent crop. The best way I think, to 
raise Winter Wheat on new prairie, is to break it in June very shal- 
low, ,and cross-plough it a little deeper than it was broken, about the 
end of August, then sow and harrow it well, and leave it as rough as 
you can. If among corn, sow about the last of August, or first of 
September, and put in with a double shovel-plough, by going twice in 
a row. Cattle must not be allowed to run on it and tramp it, unless 
the ground is covered with snow. The stalks must be broken down 
or cut, in spring. To break them, one takes a pole, ten or twelve feet 
in length, and hitches a team to it, so as to draw it sideways, when 
the snow is off, and the ground and stalks frozen, and break three rows 
at once. One man with a team will break thirty acres in a day. I 
roll all my small grain in spring, thinking that it grows more evenly, 
and knowing that it is better harvesting. 

A surprising fact, which deserves to be mentioned is, that many 
good farmers in the State of Illinois have often looked upon grow- 
ing Winter Wheat as an enterprise which is not always attended with 



WHEAT. 327 

the best success, or which comparatively affords but little profits ; 
while it may be derived from very reliable sources, that at the time 
when the country was first settled, some farmers in the neighborhood 
of Rock River did not seldom produce over forty bushels of wheat to 
the acre. For fear of ill success in growing Winter Wheat, they 
mostly depend upon Spring Wheat, and there can certainly no fail- 
ures of the crops occur, if the soil is but properly tilled, that is to say, 
if you plough deep enough, not only three inches, but from three to 
six inches deep, which practice, though requiring more labor and ex- 
pense, will amply recompense, and be of incalculable advantage to 
those who do not object to it. The result of the first crop is of greater 
importance to the new settler or beginner, than any of the subsequent 
ones, because at the beginning such heavy expenses will arise, that no 
one should neglect the somewhat exhausting labor of tearing open the 
sod turned round. Winter Wheat will then yield a splendid crop. 
On older land the culture of Winter Wheat deserves a particular at- 
tention, where the seed cast between the corn rows still on the field, 
is ploughed in with a three-shovel cultivator. Seldom as this last 
method is adopted, several years' practice have shown, that such win- 
ter seed is least exposed to freezing, because the dropping corn-leaves 
screen it exceedingly well, and the wheat soon overtops the stubble, 
so that at harvest-time, it forms no obstruction. One could certainly 
put in a great deal more wheat in this manner, if there would not 
usually be too much weed amongst the corn-rows, or if as it frequently 
happens, the wind had not broken or bent so many corn-stalks. An- 
other fact which should not be left unobserved, is, that seed wheat 
should never be threshed with a machine, but should be carefully 
shelled to prevent its cracking; from a continued use of threshed 
wheat for seed, it becomes more and more degenerated every year, and 
the blasting or sickening in general, of the wheat designated for seed, 
may really be derived from the wrong method of threshing the same, 
it becoming spoiled by the thresher. Many kernels are broken or 
partially mashed, and can never produce a perfect crop, but on the 
contrary, render poorer and poorer every succeeding harvest. 



328 OATS. — BARLEY. 

OATS. 

Oats are extensively grown in almost every part of tlie State, and 
never fail to produce a remunerating crop. In order to prevent their 
lodging or falling out, which they are apt to do soon after heading 
out, the farmer sows on corn land, and harrows in the crop, without 
using the plough, putting from two to three bushels on the acre. Mr. 
Jas. N. Brown, former Secretary of the State Agricultural Society, 
in a letter to the above named institution, says, that in his judgment, 
farmers are in the habit of putting too little seed of oats or other grain 
upon the acre; he thinks that if the land is too thinly sown, the defi- 
ciency resulting will be supplied by noxious weeds. The accounts of 
persons for many years engaged in farming, show that in some loca- 
tions, only from 40 to 50 bushels of oats per acre have been obtained, 
while in other parts of the State, for example, in the vicinity of 
Springfield, from 60 to 80 bushels per acre, are obtained. It may 
not be a wrong suggestion that much depends on the quantity of seed 
oats planted in an acre ; three bushels of seed will undoubtedly yield a 
more plentiful crop, than one and a half or two bushels, provided that 
the soil is well tilled. 

BARLEY. 

Barley is commonly sown after Indian Corn. It seldom thrives on 
newly-broken soil. A gravelly soil, which is light, warm, and sandy, 
is best fitted for it. It should be prepared as early as possible in the 
season. 

The ground for barley, more than for any other grain, must be 
deeply ploughed and finely pulverized. Twice ploughing is necessary, 
and unless the soil is very light, it would be an advantage to have 
one ploughing done in the fall. Barley may be sown after corn, po- 
tatoes, or beans; it is sometimes sown after wheat or oats, but though 
the grain in this case is always finely colored, it is bad farming, and, 
except under peculiar circumstances, should never be done. The ear- 
lier it is done the better, but it is sometimes sown as late as the last 
of May. 

No crop, perhaps, is benefitted so much by rolling as barley. Wood 
ashes are an excellent manure for barley. Fresh barn-yard manure 
ihould not be used. Well rotted manure from the yard, thoroughly 
mixed with the soil, will give the tender grain a quick and vigorous 



RYE. — BUCKWHEAT. 329 

start, and add greatly to the yield. Dry weather, after sowing, is 
highly favorable to this crop, but wet Weather is injurious. 

On new prairie-land barley is not a profitable crop, unless the soil 
be deeply broken up in the fall, and then thoroughly worked in the 
spring, with a cultivator, or by light ploughing, so as not to disturb 
the sod. Barley is one of the best crops to sow grass-seeds with, 
and ranks among those species of grain which are much cultivated, 
and very successfully, in a portion of the State. 

RYE. 

Although rye is not extensively raised in Illinois, it cannot be de- 
nied that if the culture of it is properly managed, pretty good crops 
may here and there be obtained. Some farmers in St. Clair County 
and neighborhood, have, for some years past, been pretty successful 
with it. The farmers who live in the neighborhood of towns in this 
State, generally devote, part of their land to the cultivation of it, in 
order to meet the demands of bakers. 

BUCKWHEAT 

Is an excellent crop, as far as it goes, and for the uses required. It 
is easily raised, requiring neither an over rich soil, nor a culture more 
particular than good management would demand for any crop. The 
best time for sowing it is the advanced part of the summer, when it 
will also work the destruction of the weeds ; so that the culture of this 
crop is favorable for cleaning the fields. 

It may be sown in the course of the month of June, and it has even 
been put in as late as the 4th of July, and good crops have been ob- 
tained. It is usual to sow about one bushel per acre, or a little less, 
broadcast, and cover with the harrow. It is better to roll the ground 
after sowing. By so doing the crop grows slow; but without careful 
management, will be liable to become foul with sand or earth, and 
thus injure the flour made from the grain. The ground should be 
well tilled ; there is no other difficulty in the culture. The crop is cut 
with the cradle before frost, and should be raked very carefully on a 
dry day, to avoid dirt. It is advisable to set up the gavels on the 
beds for drying, and to carry them to the floor and thresh immediately. 
The crop is liable to heat if staked or packed closely in a mow, and 
28* 



330 HOPS. — POTATOES. 

the grain must be thoroughly cleaned, if it is desired to serve as food 
for human beings. 

A correspondent of the Ohio Cultivator says, that he " has made 
experiments to render land designed for wheat-culture more fertile, 
breaking up and ploughing under buckwheat plantations." This seems 
to be a method which meets the general approbation of those who 
have ever made the same experiment, with care and attention. 

HOPS. 

This branch of agriculture comes more and more into use, and is very 
lucrative to the farmer, if he understands the proper and judicious 
management. Considering the great increase of the production of 
beer, it is not to be expected that the prices will ever be lower than 
twenty cents. The middle and southern parts of Illinois seem to be 
particularly favorable for the growing of hops. In the neighborhood 
of Belleville, and in Missouri, the most promising beginnings have been 
made in the culture of hops. 

Deep, loamy soil, is best for hops, and good corn land is good hop 
land also. To prepare land for hops, plough nine or ten inches deep, 
the land to be furrowed the same as for corn. Hops have running 
roots, from one foot to three feet long, with joints or eyes to them. 
These roots are cut from the old hill, every spring, after they have 
been planted two years. The joints or eyes are two or three inches 
apart. These are the roots to be planted; they must be cut so as to 
have three joints to a piece, and put three pieces to a hill. They are 
covered three inches deep. The second year, the quantity and qual- 
ity are likely to be as good as ever from the field. Hops are generally 
planted at a distance which gives eight hundred hills to the acre 
They twine around poles from thirteen to twenty feet long. 

POTATOES. 

In order to obtain good potatoes for seed, make choice of a small 
spot of arable, well-drained land — an eastern slope, and new land, are 
the best — ploughed early in the spring, and furrowed four or five 
inches deep, 2J feet apart. Select middling-sized potatoes, which 
have touched the ground during the winter previous; but do not cut 
them. Drop one every eight inches along the furrows, and cover them 



POTATOES. 331 

by filling the furrows with earth. Then cover them with a top dress- 
ing of forest-leaves and straw, two inches deep. As soon as the tops 
of the young plants are two or three inches high, pass between them 
with a shovel plough, followed by a hoe, destroying the weeds and 
levelling the ground; do not hill. This is all you have to do until 
fall ; when the ground begins to freeze, cover over with straw, chaff, 
or forest-leaves, six inches deep, to keep them from frost. Your pota- 
toes will now have a chance to rest and ripen during the winter. In 
this way you will have the greatest yield and best quality. Continue 
this course from year to year, and the rot will not only disappear, but 
your crop will increase from 25 to 100 per cent. 

The third year you may increase your field crop, by ploughing in 
fine manure. 

In some parts of the State we learn that the rank growth of the 
crop has chiefly developed itself in the vines, which are luxuriant be- 
yond precedent, while the essential root itself, the potatoe, is found, 
upon being pulled, to amount to almost nothing, being very small and 
poor. This, however, may be no sign of a bad crop, for strong vines 
are considered a proof of good potatoes. There is time enough yet 
for the roots to grow to their full size, and they probably will, if the 
vines continue in good health. The crop is a very large one, and if 
the yield proves to be abundant, the price will fall much below its pre- 
sent cost. 

Mr. Albert Weinberger, a farmer of thorough experience, in "White- 
field township, Marshall County, Illinois, gives good encouragement 
in speaking of his own potatoe growths; he. says, that the average 
crops in his neighborhood may be laid down at about 100 bushels per 
acre, although he himself raised 150 bushels per acre last year, and 
so did several of the neighboring farmers, in spite of the more or less 
injurious influences of the weather during the summer; this is a very 
good crop. The average price of potatoes last year, in some markets 
of Illinois, was about fifty cents per bushel, and it is not an uncom- 
mon occurrence, that speculators make engagements for potatoes, even 
as early as the time of their planting. 

In opposition to the system of planting potatoes late in the season, 
a communication was made to us by a farmer, that he raised no less 
than two hundred bushels of potatoes per acre, having planted them 



832 SWEET POTATOES. 

about the middle of May, that they should be well advanced by the 
time the hot weather comes on ; or, according to his opinion, they may 
not be planted till after the middle of June, that they may have the 
benefit of the September rains. He says that last season, late planted 
potatoes in his neighborhood were almost an entire failure. 

sweet potatoes. — Convolvulus Batatas. 

These are now existing in a number of varieties. The roots are 
usually spindle-shaped and farinaceous ; the vines are herbaceous, tak- 
ing roots at intervals; the leaves are hastate, (cross-bow shaped), and 
consequently three-lobed. The flowers, which are few, are white ex- 
ternally, and purplish within. In Northern Illinois, only one variety 
succeeds perfectly, viz : the Nansemond, brownish-yellow, short va- 
riety, which can be grown as far north as the varieties of Indian corn. 

The ground should be trench-ploughed, at least one foot deep, and 
the soil thoroughly pulverized; this should be done at the time of set- 
ting the plants, and is a principle to be observed in all hoed crops — to 
plant in newly-ploughed land. No manure should be used, as this gives 
an excess of vine at the expense of tuber, nor will the potatoes be so 
rich, for with high manuring, they incline to be watery. 

The best seed-time is about the first of April, and as the season is 
usually pretty rough then, it is necessary to put the seed-potatoes in 
hot-beds, for sprouting, and then cover them with hay or straw, to 
shelter them from rain or snow, still much prevailing at that early 
season. About the first or middle of May, the plants will be several 
inches high, and should be transplanted as soon as no more danger of 
frost is to be feared. The ground into which they are then planted, 
and which has been prepared as above described, is laid off with a two- 
horse plough, in ridges about four feet wide. 

These ridges are then divided with a hoe into hills the same dis- 
tance apart, making four feet each way, so as to allow of culture with 
a shovel-plough both ways. The hills should be made large, like a 
two-bushel basket, though a little broader at the base ; a small exca- 
vation is made with the hand in the top of the hill ; at the bottom of 
which a plant is set in the usual way, and a little water is then poured 
in, to settle the earth about the plants; if ordinary care has been be- 
stowed on them, very few will fail. In the after culture a shovel- 



FLAX. 333 

plough is run through in both directions, which, with the aid of the 
trowel about the top of the hills, will keep the crop free from weeds. 
The shovel-plough not only kills the weeds, but by breaking the crust, 
admits the air to permeate the soil, which is of high importance to the 
fair growth of all tuberous-rooted plants. The crop should be worked 
in this way several times, until the vines too much obstruct the way, 
when little farther attention is required, except to raise the vines with 
a stick, or by the hand; since they then have a disposition to send 
down roots at the joints, which should not be permitted. 

Being in possession of various accounts from persons in this State, 
who have been growing the sweet potatoe for several years, we are led 
to the conclusion, that even 'the rich, loamy, prairie soil, with its abun- 
dance of vegetable mould, yields pretty good average crops of this fa- 
vorite variety of tuberous plants ; while on the other hand it may be 
considered as a long established fact, that sandy loam answers the pur- 
pose still better. 

No rotation with other crops is required in growing the sweet po- 
tatoe; it succeeds well year after year in the same place. The great 
advantage to be derived from this is, that a suitable place can be se- 
lected, in which every excellence is united. The principal objects are 
to have a place where the plants may enjoy much heat and sunshine, 
and where they are at the same time protected from cold winds and 
blasts. 

It were to be wished that farmers and gardeners, even in the north- 
ern counties of this State, would give this vegetable the attention it 
deserves. 

FLAX 

Is grown to a certain extent in several parts of the State, as well as 
in most of the Western States of this country. It is not only the 
seed, but the fibre also, which makes this a plant of high value. 

No country in the world presents so many and so great advantages 
for the production of flax, as our own. In any of the Western States, 
the seed will always pay the expenses of growing, and give to the 
grower the average profit of 50 to 75 per cent. The production of 
flax has .sometimes been encouraged by manufacturers of woven goods 
in the Eastern States, for they have always been obliged to import 



334 FLAX. 

their supplies of flax from Europe ; and the prices paid for it, includ- 
ing the cost of transportation, duties, etc., makes the material pretty 
expensive before it reaches their hands; the question, therefore, arises, 
whether flax would not be much less expensive as a home product. 
There can be no doubt that it would — and great sums would be added 
to the present profits of flax-growing, which are only based upon the 
yields of flax-seed. 

It is thought by some, that the growth of flax is injurious to the 
soil; but the experience of those who have paid complete and long at- 
tention to it, entirely contradicts this. 

The soil best adapted to flax, is a rich, alluvial, or sandy loam, or 
a loose marl, neither too wet nor too dry. Upon poor, wet, or gra- 
velly soils, it will not succeed, and manure should be applied on land 
of an inferior kind. Good wheat land will also be good for flax ; soils 
of medium quality are best suited to its growth. 

The ploughing should be done in fall, and the land be well drained, 
and repeatedly and carefully cleansed from weeds. In the spring the 
cultivator may be passed over the land to the depth of four or five 
inches; a light harrow may then be run over it. Then the land 
should be rolled and harrowed, to make a fine surface for the reception 
of the seed, and a firm and compact bottom. 

The expense of preparing grass land directly for flax, may some- 
times be too great, and it is therefore desirable that some other crop 
should intervene, of plants such as do not occupy the land long, and 
which during their growth want frequent stirring; such plants as 
beans, peas, &c, because the repeated stirring renders the mould soft 
and loose, and at the same time destroys the weeds which would other- 
wise do much damage to the flax. 

The seed may be sown any time between the middle of April, and 
the middle of June ; later sowing is not to be recommended, as the 
crop always blossoms in the .month of July, and if sown later, the 
plant is short, and the fibre soft and brittle. The seed should be 
spread evenly, and, if possible, in moist weather. 

The roots penetrate downward about half the length of the stem; 
and a soil of the above description, loose and loamy, should therefore 
be chosen for the cultivation of flax ; a soil which is not liable, either 
to contain too much moisture, or to be too dry, but is capable of being 



FLAX. 335 

well tilled, answers the purpose best. With regard to the choice of 
seed, it should be of a bright, brownish color, oily to the feel, and at 
the same time heavy. The seed from Holland not only ripens sooner, 
but it also yields more fibre than most others. American seed pro- 
duces a common fine flax. 

The quantity of seed required per acre is from two, to two and a 
half bushels, when sown broadcast. It may, however, be added, that 
with regard to the quantity of seed, much depends upon the quality 
of the soil, and also on the weather ; for if too much seed is sown on 
rich and fertile land, the crop is in danger of lodging.- 

If the cultivation is performed in a proper manner, an acre of good 
soil will readily produce 20 bushels of this seed, which is worth from 
$1 50 to $2 per bushel, according to the quality. 

In regard to the preparation of the flax, the following is to be ob- 
served : If we take straw, break it, and carefully examine it, it will be 
found to consist of three distinct parts; the centre is occupied by a sort 
of cellular tissue, having the appearance of wood ; this is usually called 
the " shave," or " bean f it is composed of bundles of long and tough 
fibres, the whole enveloped by a thin and delicate bark or skin. 

The first process is called the " steeping," or " dew-rotting;" in this, 
the straw is spread on the grass, and carefully watered, sufficient mois- 
ture being supplied to support the action of fermentation in the tis- 
sues of the plant. This method, however, is very tedious, and re- 
quires several weeks for completion. The usual method is to immerse 
the straw, either in tanks or pits, constructed for the purpose, or in 
slowly-running streams. In a few days, a scum appears on the sur- 
face of the water, and is succeeded by the evolution of gaseous bub- 
bles, arising from the decomposition, which is now actively at work. 

Great care must then be taken to prevent this from proceeding too 
far, and effecting injury to the quality of the fibrous portion; it must 
be constantly watched, and removed as soon as the desired end has 
been attained. This is known immediately by a person of experience, 
from the manner in which the fibre separates from the straw, in break- 
ing a portion of the stalk. Great judgment is required in determining 
the proper time for drawing the flax from the steep ; — if the process 
has not been carried far enough, the fibre is coarse, and can ouly be 
used for the manufacture of the common goods. 

The temperature of the steep is kept between 80 and 90 degrees. 



336 BROOM CORN. 

BROOM CORN. 

This corn is not very extensively cultivated, as yet, in the State 
but the usefulness of it makes it a subject worth mentioning, as it 
may be cultivated in localities adapted for it. Mr. Beebe, a farmer 
near Platteville, Illinois, is known to have cultivated this corn for 
about three years, raising, however, but a small quantity, until last 
year, when he planted about 12 acres, and obtained an excellent crop. 
The soil best adapted for it seems to be the broken sod of an old prai- 
rie or pasture. Any soil which will serve for the cultivation of In- 
dian corn, is equally adapted for Broom corn. It is not necessary to 
apply manure if the soil is but of a middling quality. Broom corn is 
considered to be a crop which will hardly fail, if it is not sown too 
late. The soil is prepared almost in the same manner as for Indian 
corn, but should be tilled a little more with the roller and cultivator, 
because the seed is smaller, requiring a more loosened soil for sprout- 
ing. The ridges are laid about three and a half feet distant from each 
other, so that the sun's rays may penetrate to the roots j the hills 18 
inches apart ; and from 10 to 12 kernels are taken for each hill. It 
is best to plant as early as the season will permit. As soon as the 
corn is grown high enough to distinguish the rows, it is worked with 
the cultivator and the hoe, not leaving more than four or five stalks to 
a hill; the hoeing is usually performed twice. 

There are two methods of harvesting, — the one is, to cut the stalks 
as soon as they are ripe, to bring them to the barn, remove the seed, 
and place the stalks on planks for drying. In this manner the stalks 
preserve their original bright color, and the brooms bring a higher 
price. The other method is to let the crop stand until the seed is per- 
fectly ripened, then to cut it and spread it on the field for two or three 
days, to get dry ; it is then taken to the barn and put on scaffoldings, 
for thorough drying, in such a manner as to allow the air to pass freely 
over it, and to prevent its rotting. By following this latter method, 
from 30 to 50 bushels of good seed per acre are obtained, which are 
equal in value to the same quantity of oats, for feeding poultry, cows, 
sheep, etc. The average yield is about 400 brooms per acre — 100 
pounds of good brush make about 70 medium sized brooms. 

The brush of Mr. Beebe's Broom corn crop, of last year, was of the 



CHOCOLATE CORN. 337 

finest order; and he was engaged during the fall in manufacturing 
brooms. He intends to build larger shops, and carry on the business 
on a more extensive scale. He is ready to furnish seed, and will pur- 
chase, next fall, all good Broom corn which may be offered him. It 
is beyond any doubt, that the raising of this corn, will soon prove very 
profitable for the farmers in this State, as well as for those who are 
engaged in the manufacture of brooms made of this domestic material 
About one peck of seed is required per acre. 

CHOCOLATE CORN. 

This seems to be a variety of the so-called " millet corn," and as it 
may, perhaps, be little known as yet, I take this opportunity of pre- 
senting to the reader the information that was given to me with re- 
gard to this corn, by Mr. Feussner, in St. Clair County, Illinois; he 
says: — "I raise a plant for my household use, which seems to be a 
variety of millet, having a black seed. The right name of it I have 
not been able to find — we call it " chocolate corn," a name which may 
be derived partly from the way in which it is used, and partly from 
the manner of its cultivation. We use it as a very delicious substi- 
tute for coffee ; and it sometimes also serves us as a savory dish at our 
meals. It is easy of digestion, and tastes precisely like weak choco- 
late, and even resembles it in color. It is sown in the beginning of 
May ; it ripens about the beginning of September, and is not affected 
by light night-frosts. This plant is cultivated like Indian corn or po- 
tatoes ; the seed, if sown, is covered but one inch high. The hills are 
to be kept apart a distance of three or four feet, and from five to seven 
plants are left to each hill. 

" The preparation of a beverage from this corn, is accomplished in 
the following manner : — 

" We want for our table four pints of chocolate ; we take one and a 
half ears, nearly filling the funnel of our coffee-mill, which is about 
4 J- inches wide, and If inches high, and grind the kernels a little fine ; 
having proceeded thus far, we mix the ground substance with two 
pints of water, and boil it until the starch contained in it forms into 
a lump, the liquid is then passed, to separate it from the grains, through 
a fine wire sieve, or tin colander; two pints of sweet milk, from which 
the cream has been skimmed, and a good tablespoonful of common 
29 W 



338 CHINESE YAM. 

powdered sugar, and a little cinnamon are then added to the decoc- 
tion; it is now boiled once more, and a most delicious beverage, which 
is scarcely distinguishable from light chocolate, is ready for use. If 
you wish to improve it still further, you may add an egg, and a little 
nutmeg." 

If , this corn could gradually be brought to serve as a substitute for 
coffee, considerable sums which are every year paid for this latter ar- 
ticle would be saved. 

Chinese YAM. (Dioscorea Batatas!) 

This tuber has not been cultivated, as yet, in the State ; but as i 
can be raised in Illinois, we think it a duty to call the attention of the 
farmers and settlers to it. 

From a report made by the agricultural division of the Patent Of- 
fice, it appears that this variety of tuber has lately been introduced 
into the United States, for experiment. 

The method of cultivation as adopted by the Chinese,' appears to be 
easy and simple. 

" In the autumn, they select the smallest tubers, preserving them 
from injury by frost, by covering them in a pit with earth and straw. 
The spring succeeding they plant them near each other, in a trench, 
in well prepared soil. When they have put forth shoots, one or two 
yards in length, the joints and leaves, containing the buds, are cutoff 
and planted for reproduction. For this purpose, they form the ground 
into ridges, on the top of which a shallow trench is made with the 
hand, or some suitable implement, in which these joints are planted^ 
covered slightly with finely pulverized earth, with the leaves rising 
just to the surface. Should it rain the same day, they shoot imme- 
diately ; if not, they must be gently watered, until they do so. In 
fifteen or twenty days, they give birth to new tubers and stalks, the 
latter of which it is necessary to remove from time to time, to prevent 
them from taking root on the sides, and thus injuring the development 
of the tubers already formed. " 

By the report of the gentleman to whom the yam was sent for ex- 
periment, we learn that it is growing finely, promises an abundant 
yield, and appears to be well adapted to the soil and climate. 

Another communication, received from a gentleman in the State of 



GRASSES. 339 

Illinois, with regard to the " Yam/' treats this interesting subject as 
follows : 

" I cannot forbear to make mention of a plant, which may probably 
soon take its way to our Western States, and to which the general at- 
tention may already be directed, since it promises to bring greater be- 
nefits to the Eastern as well as to the Western Hemisphere, than per- 
haps any other plant heretofore known. A ' Yam' tuber of the va- 
riety above mentioned, was sent some six years ago by the French 
Consul, M. de Montigny, at Shanghai, to Paris, where it was planted 
and cultivated with much care. From thence plants were sent to 
America." 

Mr. Prince, on Long Island, has already obtained a full crop of 
yams. The accounts of Professor Decaines, at Paris, the Chinese and 
Japanese news, and the opinions of Mr. Prince, and others, establish 
this point, that the plant may be grown in all countries where pota- 
toes succeed well.. It does not suffer from frost, when kept in the 
ground, and may be preserved in cellars, in good and sound condition, 
for ten months. It is easy to transplant and increase it, and it is sure 
to give abundant yields, even on a small, but well cultivated piece of 
land. It is not liable at all to disease or rot, and is more nutritive, 
healthy, and palatable, than our common potatoe, and seems to be de- 
signed to become the nourishment of many people. 

Small, sound tubers of the " Chinese Yam," are sold at $6 per 
dozen, sent by mail, if ordered soon, at Ellwanger & Barry's, Mount 
Hope Nurseries, Rochester, New York. 

GRASSES. 

This State, especially in the central part, may properly be considered 
a good grass-growing region. The cultivation of tame grass, was, in 
former years, when farmers were yet scarce, and the surrounding prai- 
ries still afforded a sufficiency of grass for hay-making, not deemed to 
be necessary, and was entered on by but few, till it was found that in 
the course of time, the natural prairie-grass in the neighborhood of 
farms, remarkably diminished by the pasturing of cattle. Farmers 
then came to the conclusion that the raising of grass crops would be 
highly important and even very necessary for them. The varieties 
generally grown are clover and timothy. 



340 GRASSES. 

In order to get a permanently good pasture, it is necessary to culti- 
vate the old land for some time in corn, wheat, and other grain, as by 
this method, the wild properties of the soil, the weeds, and the wild 
grass, will be effectually destroyed. For this, six or seven years' good 
tillage of the land that is to be prepared, for grass, is required ; and 
such land, if after this time sown with clover, may serve exceedingly 
well as pasture for 5 or 6 years. The sod may then be broken again, 
and the same rotation, commencing with the cultivation of grain, be 
repeated. In some parts of the State, timothy is better adapted for 
permanent pastures than clover. If timothy is on rich and good soil, 
two crops may be obtained ; one mowing is then performed in the ear- 
lier part of the summer, and another, in the latter part of it. 

The best time for sowing grass is considered to be in the month of 
March ; at least this may be the case in Central Illinois, while in more 
northern regions it may perhaps be more advisable to sow a little later. 
Some farmers in Central Illinois mix their grass-seeds together, and 
sow at the rate of one-third clover, and two-thirds timothy, using one 
bushel of clover, and two bushels of timothy, on twelve or thirteen 
acres. Stock should not be suffered to run on grass during March 
and April. If the seeds are not mixed, the average quantities re- 
quired for sowing are about as follows : clover, one bushel to ten acres ; 
timothy, one bushel to five acres. 

Blue grass is also cultivated, but not so extensively as clover and 
timothy. . 

Mr. Weinberger, a farmer in Marshall County, directs our attention 
to a variety which is known by the name of Millet grass. This va- 
riety would deserve greater attention if it were perennial, but it is only 
a one year's plant, and therefore must be sown every year. The va 
riety was made known and cultivated some years since in that county, 
and is very valuable, not only for the excellence of the blade, but also 
for its seeds, which are in fair demand. Dry land is best adapted for 
its growth ; it grows to the height of seven or eight feet. If much at- 
tention is to be bestowed on the seec?-crop of millet, it is better to sow 
the seed broad-cast, since this will promote a fuller development of the 
seeds. But if a good Aay-crop is expected, one may sow thicker; the 
stalks will thus be prevented from growing too hard and coarse. The 
average yields of this variety may be about four tons of hay per acre, 
and twenty bushels of seed. 



FKUIT CULTURE. 

The culture of fruit lias for many years been carried on more or 
less extensively, in those parts of this State in which the localities ap- 
peared to be adapted. In Middle and Southern Illinois, orchards have 
existed for a long while, and even in the north of this State, near the 
Lake Michigan, the culture of some kinds, especially the apple, has 
been attended with pretty good success. The principal varieties of 
fruit grown in Illinois, are, the apple, peach, pear, quince, plum, &o. 

The State Fair held at Springfield, last year, offers great induce- 
ments to pomologists and fruit-growers in general. The most beauti- 
ful specimens of apples and other fruit were there to be seen, and se- 
veral premiums were awarded. 

THE APPLE. 

The apple, as a tree, as well as a fruit, is said to have reached a 
high degree of perfection in some parts of Central and Southern Illi- 
nois. The crops raised in a year of abundance are often superior to 
the best crops obtained in the States of New York, Pennsylvania, and 
Ohio, both in quality and in quantity. It is an established fact, that 
each desirable variety of the apple has its own latitude, in which it 
attains its highest perfection, and that every departure from this par- 
ticular latitude depreciates, in a greater or less degree, the value of 
the fruit. The orchards in the State contain, for the most part, 
grafted fruit alone. The soil best adapted for planting apple-trees is 
a mixture of loam, mould, and lime ) a sloping hill is preferable to a 
level place. Among the numerous varieties, may be mentioned as the 
most approved : Red June, Early Harvest, Tops of Wine, Sine qua 
non, Rambo, Newark, Pippin, Alexander, Fameuse, Golden Pipjnn, 
uEsopus Spitzenberg, Yellow Bellflower, Priestley, Long Green, Non- 
pareil, Red Baldwin, Newton Pippin, Lansinburg, Michael Hcnry^ 
29* (34]) 



842 THE PEACH. 

and Pippin. The best cider is obtained from the Virginia, and Si- 
beria Crab. 

Sweet apples are more nourishing and healthy than acid ones. For 
feeding stock of all kinds, an orchard of sweet apples is as profitable as 
anything which the land will produce. 

The following are good kinds for planting: Early Golden Sweet, 
Hog Island Sweet, Ramsdell Sweet, Pound or Pump7cin Sweet, 
Tolman's Sweet, Peach Pond Sweet, &c. With regard to the crops, 
it may be said that they are sometimes very remunerating. Examples 
may be given, where single trees have yielded from five to ten dollars 
a year in fruit. Apple trees are generally transplanted from the nur- 
series after one year's growth, at which time they will be from three 
to four feet high. 

Apple trees, to any amount, and of all varieties, can be had in our 
nurseries from 12J to 15 cents a-piece. 

THE PEACH. 

With regard to the peach tree, it may be said that, in some por- 
tions of this State, it may be cultivated with considerable success, 
while here and there, in the northern regions, it is liable to be killed 
by the winter. The reason for this may be attributed to the tender- 
ness of the tree, which is of eastern origin. Some peach-growers are 
of opinion that seedling peach trees are more successful in their growth 
than those raised from buds, and that it is the better plan to continue 
them through seeds. 

The peach is considered rather an uncertain crop in North Illinois. 
The failures of crops usually arise from the winter killing of the fruit- 
buds. 

A dry soil, containing but few organic substances, seems to be best 
adapted for peach trees. Mr. Harkness, a farmer in Peoria County, 
who, from his personal experience, knows the results of the fruit-crops 
in that portion, during more than twenty years, thinks that the peach 
tree, when cultivated, is not sufficiently cared for, and that it is not 
always planted in a sufficiently sheltered situation; therefore its blos- 
soms will sometimes freeze in early spring. It is, however, not only 
the spring frost, but also a certain degree of severe frost during the 
winter, which is injurious to the peach tree, but if no damage of such 



^i ) « ,^ 



THE PEAR. 343 

kind has been done to the trees, they are sure to yield very full and 
abundant crops ; and this will be still more the case if there be some 
little cultivation on such peach lands, in a bearing year; the cultiva- 
tion needed, is a loosening and stirring up of the ground a little in 
the early part of the summer. Young trees often commence to bear 
in their third year. The peach, more than any other kind of tree, 
can stand great drought. 

There are but few farmers who are entirely without peach trees, 
and they are found both wild and grafted. The principal varieties 
known in Illinois, are : 1. The Clingstone, or Plum Peach, which is 
juicy, aromatic, and hard. 2. The Freestone Peach, white, with a 
loose stone; and 3, the Nectarine, plum-like, with a smooth skin; very 
delicious, but a little difficult to raise. 

THE PEAR. 

Although the pear is not frequently seen in this State, it may, in 
some districts, be found as large, as fine flavored, and as perfect in 
every respect, as anywhere in the United States. The pear, we know 
from good authority, to have certainly been reared in western nurseries, 
some fifty years ago, and even for a longer time. Some men are not 
in favor of growing pears, from the mere prejudiced opinion that they 
do not promise a crop sufficiently profitable to make it worth while to 
cultivate this fruit. There is certainly much truth in the assertion, 
that the trunks and larger branches of the pear tree are frequently 
affected by the blight, and that then a large portion of the standard 
pear trees, which have come into bearing, are swept away. Those 
which have been but partly destroyed, will sometimes revive and be- 
gin to bear again. For planting, one should be careful to select a 
place where the soil is not too dry, and heavy rather than too light 
and too mellow; the trunks and roots should then be well screened 
from the influence of the heat, at noon. As manure, urine, soap- 
water, bones, ashes, etc., may be used. As a reason for the dying of 
the trees, carelessness in the treatment has been alleged, and a farmer 
whom we met, said that the destruction is caused by a neglect in the 
proper setting and trimming, and insufficient protection from insects. 
Good varieties of pears are not much found in our markets, and com- 
paratively high prices are paid for them, on account of their scarcity ; 



344 THE PRUNE. 

yet it should be remembered that it does not cost much more to grow 
a good quality of pears, than of apples. A sound, bearing tree, will 
produce almost as much fruit as an apple tree, and it will live many 
years. There are now more than eighty distinct varieties cultivated 
in this country, many of which may be had at every nursery. 

The principal varieties known in this State, are : the Bartlett, the 
Bergamotte, the Beurre, the Basse, the Napoleon, the Virguleuse, 
the St. Germain, the Pound Pear, the Dix, the Seckel, etc. 

THE QUINCE. 

As far as it has hitherto been cultivated, the quince seems to be 
hardy and productive. It is a small tree, or large shrub, is very slow 
in coming to a bearing condition, but is one among the oldest fruit- 
trees known in the country. Some very good and plentiful crops have 
already been produced, in cases where proper management has been 
bestowed. 

THE PLUM. 

The cultivation of the plum, as a grafted fruit-tree, has not as yet 
become so extensive as to give much for experience to say on the sub- 
ject. A fruit-grower in Peoria County says, that in that region, wild 
plums were, for eight or ten years after the settlement of the country, 
found in great abundance. During the progress of civilization, he 
says, came the plum Curcusio, and now one will not meet with a 
sound wild plum in a whole season. Our cultivated plum trees grow 
well and blossom abundantly; the young fruit is often very promising, 
but the insect above named is so universal, that very little of it ever 
comes to maturity. North of latitude 41° the Curcusio is not so trou- 
blesome, and, in those parts, plums have therefore been cultivated in 
many places with success. 

The climate best adapted to the plum, seems to be nearly distinct 
from that suited to the peach. North of latitude 41° is the proper 
region of the plum. 

THE PRUNE. 

This variety of fruit is of German origin, and among fruit-growers 
the opinion has been prevalent, that it degenerates in this country, 



THE CHERRY. 345 

and that a fruit would be produced which in shape and quality would 
perfectly resemble our common plum, but this has been fairly refuted 
by an experienced fruit-grower, who goes as far as to protest that within 
his own knowledge and experience, prune crops have even surpassed 
apple crops, and that splendid results have been attained with im- 
ported young trees- This must necessarily lead to the conclusion that 
both soil and climate, in this country, are exceedingly good for the 
culture of this fruit. It may also be observed that the prune tree is 
one of the fruit-trees which do not suffer from frost, and that its fine 
appearance makes it desirable as an ornament, in gardens. 

THE CHERRY. 

Most of the large wood cherries grow so fast as to be liable to win- 
ter kill, and can only be grown with success on thin, poor soil, or in a 
grass plat. The Morilles, and May Cherries, are hardy and produc- 
tive. It is a great drawback, that a large portion of the crop is con- 
sumed by the birds. 

The principal varieties of cherries are, the Mayduke, the Early 
'Whiteheart, the Late Duke, &c. 

The Blackberry is abundant and fine in all the groves where the 
timber has been partly cut away. 

The Raspberry. The black variety is common in the open woods, 
but the red is not found here, except as a cultivated plant; where 
planted, it thrives and grows luxuriantly. There are several varieties, 
foreign as well as domestic,, well known in this State. 

The Straicberry. The prairie soil is well adapted for the cultiva- 
tion of this delicious berry, which may at the same time be found in 
very great abundance, growing in the woods, in a wild state. Several 
experiments which were made with the cultivation of the strawberry, 
have proved, that apple orchards are very proper places for planting 
them, especially for those northern varieties, the leaves of which are 
much affected by very hot sunshine. If strawberry plants of almost 
any variety are planted upon orchard land, (no matter how close the 
trees stand, for the shade is not at all injurious, but on the contrary, 
quite beneficial to strawberry growth,) a crop of about 25 or 30 bush- 



346 FRUIT CULTURE. 

els may be obtained upon an acre. The varieties most admired are 
the Hovey's Seedling, Mammoth Alpine, Burr's, New Pine, Black 
Prince, and Hudson. 

The Currant. This bush grows exceedingly well and vigorously, 
and should be shaded a little from the intense heat of the sun, that it 
may mature well. The common red currant gives the highest yield r 
but requires a cool situation, and a moistened, loose soil. 

The Gooseberry. It is not much found in the southern part of this 
State, and requires almost the same properties of soil as the currant 
bush. The berry, as it grows hereabouts, is smooth and of medium 
size. It is found in abundance in the groves, but is much improved 
by cultivation. Some of the large foreign sorts are subject to mildew, 
but the natives and smaller class of imported sorts, flourish and bear 
well. 

The Cranberry will succeed very well in the most northern parts 
of Illinois, on a swampy soil. 

Nurseries. The number of nurseries in this State is truly a matter* 
of astonishment. In Northern Illinois, nurseries are found capable of 
supplying the surrounding country with apple, as well as other fruit, 
and ornamental trees, and flowering plants. And yet, more trees are 
planted from Eastern nurseries, than from home establishments. It 
is a fact, however, that as far as our principal variety — the apple — is 
concerned, the eastern trees are worth less, and cost much more than 
those of the same size or age at home. They are worth less, because 
usually more attenuated in form, and unacclimated here, and when 
badly handled — which is often the case with those peddled about the 
country — they have less vitality, and are more apt to die, or become 
diseased; and they cost more, because heavy charges and large com- 
missions have to be added to the nursery price. It is known that 
eastern apple trees, which are " peddled" through the West, at from 
20 to 30 cents per tree, are bought East at from $80 to $100 per 
thousand. 

The principal nurseries in the State of Illinois, are : 

The Grove Nursery, of J. & O. Kennikott, at West Northfield, Cook County, 
office No. 47 Clarkson Street, Chicago. 



FRUIT CULTURE. 347 

The Lake Nursery, at Waukegan, Robert Douglas, proprietor ; this nursery 
is thirty-five miles north of Chicago, on the Chicago and Milwaukee Railroad. 

The Franklin Grove Nursery, A. R. Whitney, proprietor. Franklin Grove, 
Lee County, is located but one mile south of Franklin Station,, on the Chicago 
and Dixon Air Line Railroad. 

The Pleasant Ridge Nursery, Perry Aldrich, proprietor, five miles east of 
Hennepin, one mile east of Swaney, on the Hennepin and Lncliantown road, 
town of Aripze, Bureau County. 

The Bloomington Nursery, F. K. Phoenix, proprietor, at Bloomington, HI. 

The Kankakee Nursery, at Kankakee, HI. McGrew, Leas & Co., proprie- 
tors, where first-rate Osage plants for hedging may be had at reasonable prices. 

The Dupage Nurseries, Lewis Ellsworth & Co. proprietors, at Naperville, Du- 
page County, 111. 

The Persimmon Grove Nursery, at Princeton, Bureau County, 111., Arthur 
Bryant, proprietor. 

In any of the above-mentioned establishments, fruit trees of good 
parentage and germ, as well as shrubs, and various plants for hedging 
and ornamental purposes, may be had ; and all those that are engaged 
in the cultivation of choice trees or plants, will do well to get their 
supplies as little away from these places as possible. 



GRAPE CULTURE. 

After many tiresome attempts that have been made in the west 
and southwest of the United States, to promote this important branch 
of culture, it may now be considered as a department of national agri- 
culture, whose progress cannot be checked. 

Experiments in the cultivation of the grape were made many years 
ago in this State ; it appears that the first trials to introduce it were 
made in the years 1830 to 1836, in the neighborhood of Belleville, 
by Germans, who had emigrated to this country from the banks of the 
Rhine. They at first only planted such varieties as may be found on 
the banks of the Rhine. These grape vines grew but poorly, for some 
years bore very little fruit, and gradually died away. This want of 
success created discouragement. It was generally believed that the 
climate of that part of the country was altogether unfavorable to the 
grape, and hence no farther attention was bestowed on that branch of 
agriculture, until a few years since, when it became known that the 
grape culture, near Cincinnati, made rapid and encouraging progress. 
Therefore in the years 1845 to 1847, this culture was resumed by the 
grape-growers near Belleville, and for that purpose they had some cut- 
tings of the American Catawba sent to them from Cincinnati. The 
Catawba derives its name from a variety growing wild near the Ca- 
tawba River. The soil near Belleville, and that in St. Clair County, 
seems to be particularly adapted for the grape, since it is a sandy loam, 
containing neither too little nor too much moisture. The open prairie- 
land seems to be less adapted for grape culture, and this may fre- 
quently prove so, on account of the too great fertility and richness of 
the soil. With regard to the best mode of cultivation, it should be 
remembered that it is not necessary to lay out the land in ridges, by 
trench ploughing. It will be sufficient to dig holes two feet square, 

or to make them three feet long, and two feet deep. 

(348) 



GRAPE CULTURE. 349 

In a vineyard newly laid out, the principal object is to keep the 
ground cleansed of weeds ; but as soon as the vines have attained their 
full size, it is sufficient to plough and hoe the land' twice a year; the 
first time in spring, and again soon after the vintage. If, in the mean- 
time, the weeds should grow too high, they should be cut off with the 
sickle. The tillage of the soil should be deferred until after the mid- 
dle of May, when no more injurious night-frosts are to be dreaded. 
These are the most important suggestions concerning the tillage ; as to 
the treatment of the vines themselves, let it not be forgotten that the 
stocks should be planted from six to eight feet apart; this open space, 
as may be easily conjectured, will cause them to grow strong, vigorous, 
and productive of good and plentiful crops. 

The two principal home varieties, are the Isabella and the Cataicba. 
The former is more adapted to northern latitudes, from 42° upwards, 
while the latter grows better in a southern region, perhaps not much 
above 37°. 

Of distinguished foreign varieties, the Rhenish Grape, originating 
on the banks of the Rhine, and first grown in this country in the 
State of Ohio, near Cincinnati, deserves to be mentioned. A farmer 
in Peoria County obtained a few samples of this kind, and says that 
they have produced a fair crop of grapes, fifteen seasons in seventeen. 
It has a considerable resemblance to the Isabella, in appearance and 
flavor, but the vine is of much slower growth, and very hardy. The 
destruction to which grapes are more or less exposed, is caused by the 
rot, produced by excessive rains, followed by very sultry weather. If 
the winter lasts very long, the frost will sometimes affect, and even 
kill the buds, without, however, injuring the vines. The best quality 
of wine, which may be had at Belleville, is the Catawba wine, which 
is far superior to any other kind grown in the United States. That 
the grape culture is quite remunerating near Belleville, and even a 
little farther north, is confirmed by the statements of most of the 
growers there. One of these informs us that from two acres of land, 
which have been in a bearing condition since 1850, he obtained 640 
gallons in the first year, and .652 gallons in 1853 ; this, however, 
shows only the richest crops he obtained in the course of six years ; 
but though the vines may h;ive yielded but half as much at other 
30 



350 GRAPE CULTURE. 

times, it will still leave a handsome average yield — about 160 gallons 
per acre. 

The market price of the Catawba is from two to three dollars a 
gallon. 

The rot, and the mildew, to which the grapes are more or less sub- 
ject, may be diminished by very careful treatment in the cultivation, 
as well as a judicious selection of the locality. If we consider the dif- 
ficulties and risks attending the cultivation of foreign grapes, which 
may either degenerate or prove to be failures, it will doubtless appear 
a better plan to bestow a little more attention on the grafting of those 
wild varieties of grapes, which nature allows to grow and thrive freely 
in the Mississippi valley. This enterprise has already been started by 
a few people, who commenced their researches last year, going to the 
Ozark Mountains, as far as Springfield. They gathered whatever they 
thought valuable of the kind, and returned with five new varieties of 
grape vines, and a quantity of seed. Not a little work and labor were 
expended in rendering useful these wild children of nature. 

The most valuable varieties thus discovered are : 

1. The Halifax vine, a native of the east; the grapes are pretty 
large, of good, rather peculiar flavor. 

2. The Wine Home vine, was found growing wild in a rocky place ; 
the dark grapes are of medium size, and the juice nearly colorless. 

3. The Yiaterloo, or Rockhouse Indian vine, growing wild in the 
neighborhood of Waterloo, 111. This vine grows very luxuriantly, and 
has a rough appearance. The little grapes are close together, and 
contain a very dark colored juice. This grape ripens about the mid- 
dle of October. The wine has a fine, bright, reddish-blue color, and 
strongly resembles the best Burgundy. 

4. The Ozark Muscat wine, from the Ozark Mountains ; in appear- 
ance it is similar to No. 2. The grape tastes like nutmeg, a peculi- 
arity which is not shared by the wine. 

5. The Little Ozark vine. The whole plant has a bright and fresh 
appearance; the dark and long clusters nestle close under the shining, 
green leaves, and not a rotten berry is to be seen on the whole stock. 
They ripen about the beginning of October. 

6. The Ozark Seedlivg. Most of the seedlings reared from the 
seeds gathered in the Ozark Mountains, after some years proved to be 



GRAPE CULTURE. 351 

unpromising varieties. The grapes are a little larger than those of the 
varieties above named. 

It is to be hoped that the cultivation of the grape, certainly the 
most valuable of all fruits, will be extended more and more through- 
out the west and southwest of the United States; and it is beyond all 
doubt, that those who engage in this business will be amply re- 
warded. 



GROWING OF TIMBER. 

There is not so much wood in this State as there is in the Eastern 
States, and in some districts a scarcity of fuel, of fencing and building 
material, may be noticed. The prairies do not exhibit impenetrable 
forests, but are only interspersed with groves of limited extension. 
Upon first viewing the vast prairie-lands, it would seem that there 
must be something in the soil of the prairies which is hostile to the 
growth of trees, and yet a careful comparison would detect no differ- 
ence in the qualities of the soil where timber grows, and where it 
grows not. The small groves at the head of streams, and along the 
river banks, were sufficient for the wants of the first settlers, but these 
were far from sufficient for fencing the vast prairies; and it was plain, 
that whatever should be used as a fencing material, must be grown 
upon the soil. The prairie is well supplied with all the elements ne- 
cessary to the growth of the most gigantic trees. 

The following varieties have been cultivated with success : 



American White Pine, Yellow, or Pitch Pine, Hemlock, 



Balsam Fir, 
European Larch, 
Norway Spruce, 
American Chestnut, 
Weeping Willow, 
Black Spruce, 



Silver Spruce, 
Austrian Pine, 
Black Locust, 
American Birch, 
Alanthus, 
American Larch, 



White Cedar, 

Pinus Maritima 

Yellow Poplar, (Tulip Tree.) 

Yellow Birch, 

Osier Willow, 

Black Birch. 



All these trees have done well upon the prairie soil, and most of 
them grow with a vigor astounding to those who have only seen them 
upon the barren lands of their native localities. The prairie farmer, 
if he be a lover of beautiful trees, need not long be without them. 
He can surround his farm with a belt of evergreens, at a trifling ex- 
pense; this will add greatly to its beauty and value. The nurseries 

(352) 



GROWTH OP TIMBER. 353 

in tfcf Wesl as well is in :': : Bast, san supply him with ahnc . : \. 
variety of trees for his lawn, or his timber plantation. 

r 5; me counties of 'this State possess but few attractions for 
being destitute of timber, other districts, Marshall County, 
for example, afford a. sufficiency of timber to meet the wants of new 
Bettled fanners, whom they therefore attract. 

As a building material, the Locust deserves to be recommended for 
its durability; used for posts it will last from fifty to a hundred years. 

Ehc cultivation of timber on the prairies as a shelter, is highly im- 
r -:r :,-; z : 

y rapid growers, and of an immediate effect, the following 

ire recommended; they have been successfully cultivated :— 

Uw ->/: Jfajple, the Golden Willow, the Butternut, and the Black 

Such as wish :: lave the very best kinds, should take Evergreens, 
of which the Noncay Spruce, the Hemlock, and American Arbor, 
are the most desirable for screens. 

: -:n of the Locust, of which we spoke before, is per- 

5 follows :— The seeds, if new, may be made to vegetate rea- 

::ng placed in a vessel in which some hot water has been 

poured ; the water is then turned off, and the seeds are mixed with a 

.and placed in a box, in which condition they are to be ex- 

:ze rains and frosts of the winter and spring. About the 

April, sift the sand, and plant the seeds in a well-prepared 

: one inch deep, in rows three or four feet apart, so as to ad- 

~- : : ~ - : ^ 0- the cultivator between them. By fall, if the trees 

are properly cultivated, they will be from three to five feet high. The 

follow:: g spring prepare by ploughing and harrowing the ground 

. ff the ground with a plough in rows, six or eight feet apart. 

-:refully, cut off at one-third or one-half their height 

their tops, and lay them into the furrows, putting the roots°of 

to the top of another, covering the roots eight inches deep, 

g the tops gradually rise to within one inch of the surface. The 

md second years the ground should be ploughed and kept clean 

bing iisctmtinned. 

Tr Tree. Some people think, and they may perhaps not 

be wrong, that these trees are as profitable as plums, peaches, 



354 GROWTH OF TIMBER. 

Willow wands have for some time been in fair demand, and our mar- 
kets can by no means be sufficiently supplied from our home produce. 
The amount of wands annually imported from G-ermany and France, 
is variously stated to be from five to six millions of dollars worth. 

It will be seen with regard to willow trees, that they readily grow 
in the vicinity of swamps or pools, or properly speaking, in places that 
can hardly be used for anything else. 

The prairie soil must, to a certain extent, be very well adapted for 
willows, as there are many marshes or " sloughs'' within the prairie 
region. 

There is a variety called the " Osier Willow," which is used in the 
manufacturing of baskets, chairs, cradles, &c. The raw material for 
all this work is imported from Europe. The manufacture is mostly 
confined to foreigners. If our enterprising farmers would commence 
its culture they would find it very useful for many purposes. As the 
material for a hedge or fence, it could be used with advantage, by 
weaving together the stalks and branches. 

Before concluding this chapter, it will not be amiss to make a few 
remarks about the right season for cutting timber. The method fre- 
quently pursued in woodlands, is to girdle or deaden the trees, in July 
or August, when the sap is up, and after a few years the decay in 
their limbs and body will be so great, that the trees can be cleared 
up, and the* land put in corn. When girdled during the winter 
months, when the sap is down, the decay will not be half so rapid. 
Hickory and ash timber for wagon-work is generally cut in July, and 
left on the ground for use until winter. The peeling of timber de- 
signed for rails has sometimes been advocated, as improving the dura- 
bility, but the durability may perhaps depend on the period at which 
the timber is cut; for it has been ascertained that timber cut towards 
the end of May, or at the beginning of June, is exempt from the' 
worms, whether it be peeled or left with the bark on. 



THE MACLURA HEDGE. 

The first settlers of the country, who took good care to locate as 
near the groves as practicable, had no difficulty in enclosing their farms 
with the heavy worm-fence. But when the prairies became settled, 
rail-timber soon began to grow scarce and dear, and in many places it 
was plain there was not timber to be had for reconstructing the fences 
already built. The great and only remedy for this want of timber is 
now seen to be the formation of live hedges, in the place of rails or 
boards. And after a fair trial of various shrubs and trees, foreign and 
native, it is now universally conceded that the Madura, or Osage 
Orange, is the best known plant for a living hedge on the prairies. 
This opinion is not founded upon mere theory, or partial experiments. 
Hedge planting has already become a regular branch of business.* 
The Madura hedges which have been planted four years or more, have 
become a fixed, tangible, and well established reflity. There is no mis- 
take about their being respectable barriers against the intrusion of do- 
mestic animals of every kind. This wild orange, of which the hedges 
are made, is very similar in appearance to the orange of the tropics. 

* Among the gentlemen whose business is Osage Orange planting, we note 
Messrs. McGrew, Leas & Co., of Kankakee City, and Messrs. W. A. Allender 
& Co., of Lawrence Co. The first named firm charges for plants of one and 
two years growth, from $2 to $3 per thousand, according to quality and 
amount. 100,000 plants to one order, boxed and delivered at railroad depot, 
for $2 per thousand, for those of one year; $2 50 per thousand, for two 
years old. The latter firm charges for setting, resetting, (if necessary) prun- 
ing, cultivating, and completing a perfect hedge, 60 cents per rod, payable in 
rates of 20 cents at the time of setting, and yearly 10 cents, the balance when 
completed. The farmer has to prepare the ground, to board hands while set- 
ting and attending the hedge, and to protect it from all damage by stock, ot 
other injury. 

(355) 



356 THE MACLURA HEDGE. 

The leaves are a little more pointed, but Lave the rich gloss, and deep 
green peculiar to the cultivated plant. They are, in truth, very beau- 
tiful. The fruit is not edible, but is large, showy, and very full of 
seeds. The oldest plants in Illinois are now in full bearing. Branches 
full of fruit were exhibited at the recent State Fair, so that the neces- 
sity of importing seeds from Arkansas and Texas, will soon be abo- 
lished. 

The merits of the Osage Orange as a hedge-plant, may be briefly 
summed up as follows : 

1st. The seeds may be obtained in any desirable quantity, at a cost 
of ten to twenty dollars per bushel, and a bushel of seeds will produce 
from 80,000 to 120,000 plants. 

2d. The seeds, when properly treated, are a3 certain to germinate 
as seed-corn. 

3d. The young plants are rarely, if ever, attacked by insects, and 
will grow large enough in one season to plant out in hedge-rows. 

4th. No plant bears removal better than the Osage Orange. Hence 
an even and uniform start in the hedge-row is attained without diffi- 
culty. 

5th. The growth of the hedge where the land has been properly 
prepared and cultivated, is very rapid. A good fence, fit to line the 
public highway, is often obtained in two years and a half after planting. 

6th. The wood is durable, as much so as cedar, and both the leaves 
and the wood are as yet free from the depredations of insects. . 

7th. When pruned, it will always throw out sprouts from the ex- 
treme points of the living wood. 

8th. It never throws up any suckers from the roots, but always 
sprouts at or above the collar — of course it will never spread off on 
each side of the hedge-row, as many varieties of hedge-plants will do. 

9th. The spines are strong, durable, and very offensive to all do- 
mestic animals. Hence no animal familiar with its appearance will 
touch it. 

10th. It will grow on any soil, where any description of timber 
will grow. 

Regarding the culture of the plant itself for the purpose of hedging, 
the following rules and directions, laid down by practical farmers, and 



THE MACLUHA HEDGE. 357 

evidently the fruit of much observation and experiment, should be ad- 
hered to. 

Seed should only be procured from a responsible source, and great 
care should be taken in its selection. The most certain way of testing 
it is to take a tumbler and fill it two-thirds full of warm water, then 
put cotton enough into it to keep whatever seed you put on it just 
above the surface of the water ; the cotton in this way will remain wet, 
and keep the seed moist, and yet the seed will get air, and if kept in 
a warm room it will soon vegetate. The water may have to be re- 
newed several times during the process. 

The best method of sprouting seed is as follows : Soak the seed in 
warm water at least for forty hours; (an entire week, if possible,) then 
put it in shallow boxes, not more than four or five inches deep. To 
every bushel of seed put one half bushel of sand, (smaller quantities 
in proportion), then mix it thoroughly, keep it in a warm place, and 
wet it as often as twice per day with warm water, and stir it thoroughly, 
as often as three times a day. A more frequent stirring would be bet- 
ter. The seed should be put to soak about the fifteenth or twentieth 
of April, at a temperature of from sixty-five to seventy degrees. Seed 
attended to as above described, and kept in a warm place, at a proper 
temperature, would sprout sufficiently in ten days to be put into the 
ground. It is necessary, however, to have the seed well separated be- 
fore planting. Much care should be taken in the selection of a good 
piece of ground for the nursery, or place of planting the seed. The 
ground should be fresh, fertile, and free from, the seed of weeds and 
grass. It should be mellow, not subject to bake, and rather inclined 
to be wet than otherwise. Good prairie, that has been broken the 
year previous, is undoubtedly preferable to any other ground. The 
ground should be well ploughed, harrowed, and rolled, if necessary. 
When the ground has been thus prepared and well pulverized, the 
most expeditious way of making the drills is to obtain a common 
wheat drill, and take out one-half of the planters. Have large points 
put upon those that are used in making the drills ; the points or sho- 
vels upon the planters, about five inches in width, of the same shape 
as the common points. The drills made in this way will be sixteen 
inches apart, and by putting weights upon the drag bars, the drills can 
be made of sufficient size and depth. They will be regular, and it is 



358 THE MACLURA HEDGE. 

a very expeditious manner of making the drills. The seed must then 
be drilled in the above described drills or furrows, by hand, putting 
one quart to three or four square rods, which would amount to from 
one and a quarter to one and a half bushels per acre. The covering 
can best be done with light steel rakes. The hands engaged in cover- 
ing should walk upon the side where the seed is covered j by so doing, 
they would draw all the earth one way, in filling up the drills and co- 
vering the seed. When the planting, as above described, has been 
finished, nothing more is necessary to be done until the plants begin 
to come up in sufficient numbers to indicate the situation of the drills. 
The space between the drills should then be hoed, and the weeds and 
grass in the rows, among the plants, pulled out by hand. This pro- 
cess of hoeing the spaces between the rows, and weeding the rows, 
should be repeated as often as necessary to keep the weeds down, and 
the ground loose, and in good condition. If the soil is good, the sea- 
son favorable, and the proper cultivation given them, they will be suf- 
ficiently large for transplanting the following spring. 

The process of taking them up is as follows : A subsoil plough 
should be used to cut them off; the share of the plough should be 
steely quite large, and as flat as possible , the depth of its running can 
be regulated by a wheel in front, at the end of the beam. Cutting 
them off in this way, the larger portion of them will remain standing 
in their place until they are gathered by hand. They should be cut 
off about eight or ten inches below the surface of the ground. They 
can then be gathered into bundles, and the roots covered to keep them 
moist, after which they can be taken out, assorted, tied up in bundles 
of fifty or a hundred, and. the tops cut off upon a block with an axe, 
or hatchet. They are then ready for boxing and shipping. In box- 
ing them, the boxes should not be too tight, for some air is necessary 
to prevent them from moulding. Small boxes, and those of moderate 
size, are best — say about eighteen or twenty inches wide, about the 
same depth, and three or three and a half feet long. The plants may 
be packed in the most convenient way. 

We now come to the setting of the hedge. The ground should be 
thoroughly broken up, to the depth of twelve or fourteen inches; the 
space broken at least ten feet wide, and the hedge set in the centre, 
would leave five feet to be cultivated upon each side. When a hedge 



THE MACLURA HEDGE. 359 

is to be set along an old fence-row, the fence ought to be moved the 
year previous, and the ground broken up and cultivated. It would 
then be in a better condition to receive the hedge. After the ground 
has been fully prepared, it is necessary to stake off the row, and draw 
a line to work by. The hole for inserting the plants should be made 
with a dibble, twelve inches in length, and three and a half inches in 
diameter at the top, having a wicket into which to insert a handle, 
with a pin at the top of the socket to bear the foot upon, in pressing- 
it into the ground to make the holes; these holes should be about 
eight inches apart; the plants then to be put into the holes about an 
inch deeper than they were in the ground when in the nursery — the 
earth to be then well packed about the roots. Proper transplanting 
is one of the most important matters in getting the hedge properly 
started. Too much care cannot be taken in this particular. After- 
wards comes the cultivating, hoeing, ploughing, &c. The soil on both 
sides of the hedge needs thorough cultivation, and the hedge row 
must be kept clean during the whole of the summer season. No stock 
should be allowed in the enclosure where the hedge is set until after 
harvest; and it is better to have none until fall. The summer's 
growth will by that time become hard, and will thenceforward pro- 
tect itself. 

The next spring, a year from the time the hedge was set out, it 
must be cut off at the surface of the ground, below all the buds, just 
at the top of the yellow root. The root will then swell up, and put 
out a number of strong shoots, just at the surface of the ground. It 
then needs to be thoroughly cultivated until about the middle of June, 
when it should have another cutting within two inches of the former 
one, and then cultivate as usual. By this process of cutting, is formed 
at once a strong and firm base ; and if this process of cultivating tho- 
roughly, and cutting down completely, is carried out systematically, 
success is certain. It is thought by some that it is necessary to cut 
down more than twice a year, but it is a mistake, for any one who has 
had any experience in matters of this kind, as one practical farmer as- 
sures us, will know that it is necessary to let a tree form a top to a 
certain extent, in order to obtain roots and trunk; and by keeping it 
trimmed too closely it will paralyze its growth. The following spring 
cut within three or four inches of the former cutting, and again in June 



S60 THE MACLURA HEDGE. 

four or five inches above that, continuing the cultivation until it is 
four years old, and even after it has attained the size necessary to an- 
swer the purpose of a good fence, the ground alongside of it should be 
kept in good condition. 

Many persons have supposed that the plant will not endure severe 
cold. It certainly has endured cold 35° below zero, and will un- 
doubtedly meet the contingencies of hard winters; but like every thing 
else upon a farm, it ought never to be treated with neglect. The 
only difficulty is the first winter, on ground that cracks badly with 
frost. A sure remedy for this is to cover the ground close up on both 
sides with straw, in the fall. The straw need never be removed, as it 
keeps the ground moist, and the weeds from growing in the summer. 

The fourth spring it may be cut six or seven inches above the for- 
mer cutting. The following June eight inches higher, after which 
the latter part of the summer's growth will make it sufficient to an- 
swer the purpose of a good fence. After this, trimming once a year 
will be sufficient; this should be done in the latter part of the sum- 
mer or fall, before the wood hardens. It will be found that much less 
trimming is necessary after the hedge is formed. The reason is very 
obvious, to wit : its manner of growing will cause each plant to spread 
and throw out a great number of branches, to be supplied with sap, 
and cause the former vigorous growth to be exhausted, so that it will 
then grow more slowly. 

The first cutting, that of one year after the hedge has been set, can 
be best done with a pair of shears made for the purpose, and to be had 
at most hardware stores. The second cutting can be done with a 
short, heavy, briar scythe, hung upon a strong, stiff snathe. The se- 
cond year's cutting can also be done with a scythe. The best way is 
to walk along the right side of the row, and cut half way, or to the 
centre of the row. When you get to the end of the row, turn around 
to the right, and come back upon the other side, cutting the other 
half in a similar manner. In so doing it can be cut of an oval shape. 
Then by taking a large cutter, such as are used for cutting up corn- 
stalks — it should be kept very sharp — using the knife and cutter to 
trim the sides, and keep them in proper shape, at all times letting the 
lower branches extend out, in order that they may become strong, 
that the base may be wide. It should be at least four or five feet 



THE MACLURA HEDGE. 



361 



wide at four years old. If the lateral shoots are trimmed as frequently, 
and with as much thoroughness as the upright shoots, they will soon 
lose their vigor and strength, as the natural tendency of the growth 
is upward — hence the necessity of skill and judgment to properly form 
the hedge. Great care should be taken to secure a close, strong, and 
firm base, since a large portion of the hedges that have been set have 
failed, for want of the use of a proper method in forming the base. 
The trimming of the third year can fye done in the same manner as 
that of the second year. The fourth year's trimming will have to be 
done mostly with the knife, at all times keeping the hedge in the 
shape of the one above represented. 

Concerning the amount of time and labor expended in planting 
and cultivating this plant for hedge purposes, another practical farmer 
assures us, that it takes four or five years to make a fence, costing one 
day's work for forty rods in planting, as much for cultivating and hoe- 
ing as it would cost to hoe a row of corn, and- no more; say half a day 
for cutting and hoeing forty rods yearly, which for five years would be 




two and a half days for forty rods; in all, at $1 per day, the cost 
would be S3 50. He speaks of companies who set out thousands of. 
31 



862 THE MACLURA HEDGE. y 

rods of Osage hedge yearly ; they charge sixty cents a rod, but get but 
little pay down ; they guarantee a good fence, and wait for most of the 
pay until the fence is perfected. It is true, says our farmer, that the 
ground should be well prepared, and all the work well done, and in 
season, to make a good hedge row ; so it must be to make a good row 
of corn, and there is no more difficulty, and but little more labor in 
cultivating the Osage Orange row, than the row of corn. 

Such are the merits and excellencies of this plant, that in the opin- 
ion of the most experienced hedge-growers, the Osage Orange will 
rapidly take the place of all other fences on the prairies, inasmuch as 
it is more protective, easier to be kept in repair, and the cost is but 
trifling. 

The preceding cut represents a full grown and completed hedge 
fence : nothing would add more to the beauty and protection of a 
farm, than being surrounded and divided by well trimmed and thrifty 
hedges. 



MAPLE SUGAR. 

The preparation of maple sugar is considered one of the most agree- 
able of their occupations, by farmers residing in districts where many 
sugar maple trees grow wild. A great part of the forests of Northern 
Illinois consists of these valuable trees. Towards the latter part of 
March, when the buds begin to swell, and the nocturnal frosts are fol- 
lowed by warm days, these trees are tapped with augers, about two 
feet above the earth, and hollow elder tubes being inserted in the 
bores, the sap is made to trickle through them into troughs placed be- 
low. Every morning the contents of the troughs are emptied into 
kettles, and the sap, at first but slightly sweet, is boiled the whole day 
until it assumes the thickness of syrup ; from the moment it com- 
mences to thicken, it is continually stirred. This maple syrup has a 
very agreeable and aromatic taste, as if it had been mixed with va- 
nilla, or the extract of orange blossoms, and hardens within a few 
hours after being poured out of the kettle into flat vessels. If it is 
previously clarified with milk, or the white of eggs, the sugar receives 
a light brown color; without such previous purification, however, it 
has a dark brown appearance, having, nevertheless, a sweet and plea- 
sant taste. From one bore of a tree a gallon of sap runs out, within 
about twenty-four hours, three or four gallons yielding a pound of 
sugar. At spring time, a family can prepare from one hundred and 
fifty to two hundred pounds of sugar within eight days. Tapping the 
trees does not damage them, if, after the sap has ceased to flow, the 
holes are stopped with clay. 

In districts where no sugar maples grow wild, every farmer should 
plant a half or a quarter of an acre with these trees, which may be 
easily raised from the seed. In the short space of eight or ten years, 
he might raise a sufficient supply for himself, and in a longer period, 

(3G3) 



364 MAPLE SUGAR. 

even much for sale. Whilst the trunks are still young, the land may 
be turned to account as a meadow; and lastly, the wood itself is far 
more valuable than common timber, being admirably suited for pur- 
poses of joinery and turning, and therefore commands a higher price 
than any other species of American wood. 



BREEDING CATTLE. 

This State is well adapted for the raising of stock, of almost every 
variety, on account of the rich grass-land, and the prairies, which 
yield an abundance of excellent fodder. 

The value of cattle consists chiefly in the quantity and quality of 
milk and beef they will produce at maturity. 

The Durham breed seems to thrive very well in Illinois ; they are 
the kind called also short horns. A few of the most prominent and 
never-failing characteristics, are : color, which is always red or white, 
or a mixture of the two — no other colors are ever found upon them — 
and a bright, full eye, encircled with a skin of rich cream color ; the 
nose also of the same color. Any variations from these — any black in 
the skin of the nose, is an indication of an impure breed. The horns 
are small and tapering, generally bent, and of a yellow or light waxy 
color; small, but lengthy, tapering head; fine, tapering tail; rather 
short legs ; fine, and bony body. 

James N. Brown, the first President of the State Agricultural So- 
ciety, is one of the best stock farmers of the State — 'his herd of 
" short horns" standing almost unrivalled, and his other stock being 
the best of their kind. If any one desires to see a fine sample of a 
Central Illinois stock-farm, and some of the best Durhams in the 
State, he need only go to Mr. Brown's farm, at Island Grove, Sanga- 
mon County, Illinois. ' - 

Another gentleman, B. F. Harris, Esq., residing in the edge of the 
Sangamon timber, ten miles west of Urbana, is also a very successful 
and enterprising stock-farmer. A herd of one hundred cattle, ave- 
raging 1965 pounds, fed by him, took the premium at the World's 
Fair, in New York. 

For stock-raising, Central and Southern Illinois offer great advan- 
31 * (365) 



366 BREEDING CATTLE. 

tages, as the winters are comparatively mild and short, and domestic 
animals consequently require less feeding, and can be raised with less 
expense than in a higher latitude. 

Last year, cattle did well upon the prairies until late in December. 
It is expedient to feed from the middle of November until the latter 
part of March. A pasture of blue grass will keep cattle and other live 
stock in good condition for ten months. 

The different kinds of cattle reared and bred in this State, are, be- 
sides the Durham, or " short horn," of which we have spoken before, 
the Devons, the Herefords, the Ayrshires, the Holsteins, and the Al- 
derney, or Guernsey cattle. Although it must be admitted that the 
Durhams grow to a larger size, and come to maturity younger, it 
should not be asserted that they are, for these reasons, superior to all 
other breeds. The Devons are notable, and perhaps even superior to 
any other kind, for the creamy properties of their milk, for being first- 
rate working cattle, and for the quality of their beef. They are of 
two kinds — the North, and the South Devons. The North Devons 
are of a deep red color, with long, well turned, and beautifully taper- 
ing horns ; stand low, on small bony legs ; compact, symmetrical forms, 
so much so as to deceive the eye with regard to their weight j hair 
soft and silky, and generally in curled and wavy lines ; eyes bright 
and prominent, encircled with a golden-colored skin; small, well- 
formed heads, shorter and broader than the Durhams ; muzzle fine, 
the skin of the nose like that around the eyes, of a rich, golden color ; 
tail set on high, even with the back, and rather long, terminating in 
a tuft of silvery white hair. These are never failing marks of the 
breed. 

Price of Cattle and Beef. —Working oxen are sold from $80 to 
$125 per yoke. Young cattle cost from $2 50 to $3 per hundred 
weight, or about $25 per head. Cows sell in the fall at from $20 to 
$25 — in the spring, together with the young calf, at $30. Some five 
years ago, the price for cow and calf was not over $15. The prices 
rise more and more every year, and it is seldom now that a weaned 
calf can be bought in autumn as low as $6. 

Good beef sells at present at from $4 to $5 per hundred weight. 
Of all markets in the State, the most extensive business in cattle and 



BREEDING CATTLE. 367 

beef is done at Chicago, which from its location offers such facilities 
for eastern transportation. 

The dairying interest of Illinois must doubtless be very great. The 
value of the butter and cheese of Illinois, for 1850, was §1,668,076. 
Each cow in the great State of Illinois, produced on an average for her 
owner, in 1850, 42 pounds of butter, and from 4 to 5 pounds of 
cheese, which brought him about $5 50. Butter in the Chicago mar- 
ket usually averages about 22 cents per pound. Cheese usually sells 
for from 8 to 12 J cents. 

Horses. — Illinois is well adapted for the rearing of horses. 

Till within a few years, little attention has been paid to the im- 
provement of horses. Hay is abundant, and oats can always be raised 
at a trifling cost, so that there is no reason for this want of attention 
to the breeding of horses, the more since the climate in general is so 
well suited to the most perfect development of the carriage, the 
draught, and the dray-horse. 

Horses are rather high in price — a good working horse sells now at 
from $125 to $150, while some four or five years ago, they were 
worth from $75 to $100. A weaned foal is worth in his first fall, 
from $30 to $40. 

As the buying of horses entails a considerable expense on farmers, 
they would do much better to raise them themselves, and to keep for 
the purpose at least one good mare. There is no scarcity of stallions. 
The mare should be spared a couple of weeks before and after the 
foaling, leaving her in the prairie for grazing. The young foals are 
left with the mare for about four or five months, after which time 
they are to be accustomed to the collar with care, and kept in the stable 
for a short time. The foals are usually broken for work after they 
are three years old, and one should not commence with them sooner. 

Mules are also raised pretty extensively in this State, and high 
prices are paid for them; they may feed upon coarser food than 
horses, and are often fed with corn-stalks, straw, &c. 

Sheep do very well in Illinois, and are found to be a profitable 
stock, since wool-growing is becoming quite a business in some por- 
tions of the State. There are a number of flocks in Sangamon, Mor- 
gan, and adjacent counties. Prairie-wolves in the early history of 
this State, made great havoc among the flocks, but they make their 



368 BREEDING CATTLE. 

appearance very seldom now, and in some sections they have been en 
tirely exterminated. A herd of sheep will do very well on a farm 
for trimming the pastures ; and some farmers say the average yield of 
fleece from large flocks is about three pounds. The flocks in some 
parts of Central Illinois are not sheltered in winter. It may be said 
that sheep consume food in proportion to their weight, that is to say, 
two sheep weighing 150 pounds each, require as much food as three 
sheep weighing 100 pounds each. A good fattening food for sheep 
is cake or corn, with chaff and roots. 

. Shorn sheep, sufficiently fat for the market, will contain about fifty 
pounds of carcass in every hundred pounds of the unfatted live weight. 

Hogs. — This State is considered to be very suitable for raising 
swine. The favorite food of this animal, consisting in corn, is, we 
have seen, abundantly produced here. It is true that on prairie 
farms they are not found in large numbers, owing to the law which 
prohibits the running about of hogs, on account of the danger to the 
newly-erected fences ; prairie farmers are therefore compelled to keep 
their hogs shut up in a comparatively small place, where the feeding 
of them during the whole year costs a great deal more than it would 
if they could freely run about, in search of their food. 

One may therefore find larger herds in the neighborhood of woods, 
where the hogs are allowed to go to the bottoms after acorns, nuts, 
&c. Such food is very good for fattening them, and making them fit 
for market. 

The hog may be reared and fatted at much less expense than any 
other domestic animal. 

The breeds of swine that are most valued in North Illinois, are the 
Middlesex and the Suffolk ; these two varieties are very like in most 
respects ; they are famous for their early maturity, as well as for their 
small consumption of food, and great proclivity to fatness. They do 
not grow to a large size, but their rapid development, in addition to 
their above mentioned qualities, renders them marketable much sooner 
than other varieties. This more than recompenses the farmer for 
their want of size. Suffolk pigs have been slaughtered when they 
were not over six months old, and their weight was then between three 
and four hundred pounds; they will easily bring from lj to 2 cents 



BREEDING CATTLE. 369 

per pound more than other varieties of hogs, on account of their fine 
quality of meat and little loss in offal. 

Many experiments have already been made by farmers in this 
State, with regard to hog-breeding; more than twenty different kinds 
exist here, and yet experience has led most farmers to the conviction, 
that the " Suffolk breed" is the best and most profitable of all varieties 
that are known throughout the State. The Suffolk may be con- 
tinued either pure or crossed with the Mackay or different other varie- 
ties ; by this means an increase in the size of the breed will be 
created. 

The Suffolk pig was brought to this country by a gentleman of 
Boston, who, amongst other importations, obtained this breed from 
Suffolk County, England, whence the London markets have received 
most of their supplies of pork during the last eight or ten years. 

The inclination to fatness in hogs may be distinguished by the fol- 
lowing points: head small; short snout; a dished face ; neck thick 
and short; the ear thin and small; the breast broad; the ribs round; 
the back straight; the loin broad; the rump long, from the hips back- 
ward; legs pretty small, and straight; the skin soft and smooth, with 
fine, thin bristles. 

The principal varieties of "swine," besides those already men- 
tioned, are : the Mackay breed; the Neapolitan; the Essex; and the 
Middlesex breed. 

It would make this treatise too lengthy, should a full description, 
with all the particulars of these varieties be given ; it may therefore 
suffice to say, that no practical farmer will fall short of his expecta- 
tions, if he breeds the " Suffolk ;" and if he should wish to have larger 
hogs than are usually found in this race, he may try to make a breed, 
by using a full blood Suffolk or Middlesex, and an Essex boar. The 
breed thus raised will probably grow to a pretty large size, and weigh 
from 600 to 800 pounds, at the age of 15 or 18 months. 

The average price for pork during the last four or five years, was 
from 3 J to 4 cents a pound, while formerly it was still cheaper. At 
the beginning of last winter, (1855-6) an advance in pork took place, 
and from 7 to 7 J cents per pound were paid; but these high rates 
gradually declined, so that soon after New Year's day the market 
prices were as follows : 

T 



370 BREEDING CATTLE. 

Pigs from 150 to 200 pounds, at 4 cents. 

200 to 300 " 4J « 

« over 300 " 5 " 

The Charleston (111.,) Courier, says that, for the year 1855, the 
hogs sent from Coles County, will not return less than $500,000. 

The traffic in pork, is, in the Western States, one of the most ex- 
tensive branches of business. The principal markets, Cincinnati, 
(Ohio,) and Chicago, (111.,) make very considerable exports in this 
article. They have, in both places, large packing establishments for 
pork, and smoke-houses for smoking hams, shoulders, and bacon. 
Even our Eastern markets are indebted to the West, for a large por- 
tion of their supplies in the above produce. 

The following table shows that in most towns of Illinois the pork 
traffic has diminished, while in Peoria it has considerably increased : 

1854-5. 1855-6. 

Farmington, sold 8,000 hogs. 

Beardstown, . " 22,400 " 27,400 hogs. 

Quincy, " 32,443 " 43,600 " 

Naples, " 16,327 " 7,426 » 

Alton, « 23,000 " 28,000 « 

Pekin, " 18,000 « 3,000 « 

Canton, " 28,000 " 19,000 " 

Lacon, " 9,400 " 9,700 " 

Peoria, " 30,000 " 55,000 " 

Springfield, « 24,000 " 21,000 « 

Springberg, " 1,300 " 200 " 

Chicago, " 73,000 « 70,000 " 

Stock of Cattle in Illinois. — According to the official reports of the 
State Auditor, the present stock of the entire State, with the excep- 
tion of the counties of Alexander, Bond, Carroll, Fulton, Moultrie, 
Pope, and St. Clair, exhibits the following result : 

Horses 395,692 head. 

Cattle 1,175,838 " 

Mules and Asses 19,528 " 

Sheep 811,827 " 

Hogs 1,689,537 " 



BREEDING CATTLE. 871 

The total value as obtained from the estimates, amounts, for 

Horses. $20,364,812 

Cattle 14,619,529 

Mules aud Asses 1,106,094 

Sheep 1,044,181 

Hogs 1,689,537 



Total, $38,824,153 



MARKET-PRICES, 

In several places of Illinois, during the first half of January, 1856.* 

Indian Corn, per bushel : In Alton, shell, 35 cents ; in ears, 30 cents. Au- 
rora, shell, 34-35 ; in ears, 35 per 75 lbs. Batavia, shell, 42-44 ; in ears, 35 
per 75 lbs. Beardstown, shell, 33-35 ; in ears, 30. Belvidere, shell, 40 ; in 
ears, 35 per 70 lbs. Cairo, 25-30. Canton, 30-35. Central City, 25-30. 
Chicago, 55-60. Clinton, shell, 22-28 ; in ears, 18-25. Dixon, shell, 40 ; in 
ears, 30. Decatur, shell, 25. Freeport, 33-36. Galena, in ears, 30-35. 
Galesburg, shell, 80 per 60 lbs. Geneseo, shell, 30 ; in ears, 28. Jerseyville, 
in ears, 25. Joliet, shell, 40-54 ; in ears, 35-50. Kankakee, shell, 35 ; in 
ears, 25. Knoxville, 30. La Salle, shell, 40 ; in ears, 30. Marshall, 20-25. 
Mendota, 37. Moline, shell, 40. Monmouth, 25. Morris. 35. Oquawka, 
shell, 30 ; in ears, 28. Ottawa, shell, 38 per 60 lbs ; in ears, 38 per 80 lbs. 
Paris, shell, 25 ; in ears, 20-25. Peoria, shell, 40 ; in ears^ 35. Pontiac, 30 
-33 per 60 lbs. Quincy, 33. Rockford, shell, 45 per 60 lbs ; in ears, 35 per 
70 lbs. Rock Island, shell, 40; in ears, 25-35. Shawneetown, shell, 35-40; 
in ears, 33-35. Shelbyville, 20. Springfield, shell, 30 ; in ears, 25. Ster- 
ling, shell, 40 per 60 lbs ; in ears, 30 per 60 lbs. Walnut Grove, shell, 35 ; in 
ears, 25-30. Waukegan, shell, 50 per 74 lbs ; in ears, 37 per 74 lbs.. 
• Wheat, per bushel : In Alton, 120 cents. Aurora, winter, 150-160; spring, 
125-130. Batavia, winter, 150-160 ; spring, 135-140. Beardstown, 100-150. 
Belvidere, winter, 125; spring, 112. Cairo, 135-155. Canton, 110-140. 
Central City, 120-140. Chicago, winter, 150-170; spring, 125-150. Clin- 
ton, winter, 110-125; spring, 100-110. Dixon, winter, 145-150; spring, 120. 
Decatur, winter, 130-140; spring, 115. Freeport, winter, 135-140; spring, 
115-125. Galena, winter, 110-135; spring, 100-115. Galesburg, 100. Ge- 
neseo, winter, 125-130; spring, 110-112^. Jacksonville, winter, 120-125; 
spring, 90-100. Jerseyville, 120-125. Joliet, winter, 145-155; spring, 135 
-145. Kankakee, winter, 135-140; spring, 112. Knoxville, winter, 115-125; 
spring, 107. La Salle ; winter, 135-140; spring, 120-125. Marshal, 125. 
Mendota, winter, 125; spriu^, 120. Moline, spring, 125. Monmouth, win- 

* According to the newspapers of said places. 

(372J 



MARKET-PRICES. 373 

ter, 120-125; spring, 110-115. Morris, winter, 130-185; spring, 110-120. 
Oquawka, winter, 120-135; spring, 115-120. Ottawa, winter, 140; spring, 
125-130. Paris, 120-125. Peoria, winter, 125-135; spring, 110-115. Pon- 
tiac, winter, 125; spring, 100. Quincy, 100-150. Kockford, winter, 180- 
135 ; spring, 120-125. Rock Island, winter, 100-125 ; spring, 100-110. 
Skawneetown, 110-120. Shelbyville, 110. Springfield, winter, 116-130. 
Sterling, winter, 125; spring, 115-118. Walnut Grove, winter, 110-125; 
spring, 105-115. Waukegan, winter, 150; spring, 140-150. 

Rye, per bushel: In Aurora, 85 cents. Batavia, 85-90. Belvidere, 85. 
Central City, 50-65. Chicago, 95-100. Freeport, 90-100. Galena, 60-65. 
Geneseo, 75-80. Jacksonville, 50. Kankakee, 70. Oquawka, 60. Paris, 
50.. Peoria, 80. Quincy, 75. Shelbyville, 50. Springfield, 65. Walnut 
Grove, 75. Waukegan, 85-90. 

Oats, per bushel : In Alton, 27-30 cents. Aurora, 23-24. Batavia, 24-25. 
Beardstown, 25. Belvidere, 22. Cairo, 30-35. Canton, 25. Central City, 
20-25. Chicago, 29-30. Clinton, 30. Dixon, 30. Decatur, 25. Freeport, 
28-30. Galena, 30. Galesburg, 28 per 35 lbs. Geneseo, 25-27. Jackson- 
ville, 15-20. Jerseyville, 20-21. Joliet, 25-26. Kankakee, 22. Knoxville, 
80. La Salle, 27. Marshall, 20. Mendota, 22. Moline, 30-35. Mon- 
mouth, 25. Morris. 22. Oquawka, 22. Ottawa, 27-35. Paris, 18. Peo- 
ria, 25. Pontiac, 25. Quincy, 22-23. Rockford, 30 per 32 lbs. Rock Is- 
land, 25-80. Shawneetown, 25. Shelbyville, 25. Springfield, 22-25. Ster- 
ling, 28 per 32 lbs. Walnut Grove, 20. Waukegan, 25-28. 

Barley, per bushel: In Aurora, 95-100 cents. Batavia, 95-100. Belvidere, 
100. Canton, 110-125. Chicago, 100-115. Dixon, 80-100. Freeport, 100 
-110. Galena, 75-100. Geneseo, 95-100. Jacksonville, 125. Kankakee, 
100. La Salle, 100-1 12 J. Mendota, 100 Paris, 100. Peoria, 60-62. 
Quincy, 1.50. Rock Island, 100. Springfield, 115-125. Sterling, 95. Wal- 
nut Grove, 100. Waukegan, 100. 

Buckwheat, per bushel: In Aurora, 55 cents. Batavia, 62. Springfield, 100. 

Wheat Flour, per barrel : In Alton, 850-950 cents. Aurora, 700-900. Ba- 
tavia, 900. Beardstown, 850-900. Cairo, 750-850. Central City, 700-800. 
Chicago, 525-950. Clinton, 900. Dixon, 800. Decatur, 700-800. Galena, 
650-850. Galesburg, 700-800. Geneseo, 875. Jacksonville, 650-850. Jer- 
seyville, 800-900. Joliet, 950. Kankakee, 800-900. Knoxville, 800-900. 
La Salle, 850-900. Marshall, 825. Mendota, 900. Moline, 800-850. Mon- 
mouth, 900. Morris, 500-900. Oquawka, 850. Ottawa, 875. Paris, 700- 
800. Peoria, 800-900. Pontiac, 900-1000. Quincy, 750-900. Rockford, 
650-700. Rock Island, 800. Shawneetown, 750-850. Shelbyville, 800. 
Springfield, 850-925. Sterling, 750-825. Waukegan, 800-900. 

Com Meal, per bushel: In Beardstown, 60 cents. Cairo, 75-80. Chicago, 
150-175 per 100 lbs. Decatur, 40. Jacksonville, 50. Jerseyville, 50. Kan- 
32 



374 MARKET-PRICES. 

kakee, 90. La Salle, 65-75. Marshall, 35. Moline, GO. Paris, 40. Pon- 
tiac, 50-60. Quincy, 70. Shelbyville, 40. Springfield, 50. 

Potatoes, per bushel: In Alton,' 50 cents. Aurora, 37 J. Batavia, 37. 
Beardstown, 40-50. Belvidere, 30. Cairo, 40-50. Central City, 50. Chi- 
cago, 55-60. Clinton, 25. Dixon, 50. Freeport, 35-40. Galena, 50-75. 
Galesburg, 35. Geneseo, 35. Jacksonville, 30-40. Jerseyville, 80-100. 
Joliet, 34-40. Kankakee, 20-25. Knoxville, 25. La Salle, 50. Marshall, 
40. Moline, 45-50. Monmouth, 25. Morris, 50. Oquawka, 20-25. Ot- 
tawa, 35. Paris, 30. Peoria, 50-60. Pontiac. 25-30. Quincy, 50-60. 
Rockford, 3 7 J. Rock Island, 25-30. Shelby ville, 50. Springfield, 75-100. 
Sterling, 40. Walnut Grove, 25-30. Waukegan, 40-50. 

Hay, per ton: In Alton, 1000-1200 cents. Cairo, 2000. Chicago, 700-1200. 
Decatur, 800-900. Jacksonville, 800. Peoria, 800-1200. Pontiac, 500. 
Quincy, 1200. Rock Island, 1000-1100. Shelbyville, 700. Sterling, 550- 
600. 

Earns, per pound: In Cairo, 14-15 cents. Central City, 9-12. Chicago, 
11-121 Clinton, 10-15. Jacksonville, 12J-14. Jerseyville, 12^-15. Mo- 
line, 10i-12J. Paris, 12J. Quincy, 11-12. Rockford, 7-8. Shawneetown, 
12^-15. Sterling, 7-8. Waukegan, 12. 

Shoulders, per pound : In Cairo, lli-12icents. Chicago, 8-10. Clinton, 6-8. 
Jacksonville, 8-10. Jerseyville, 10-12 J. Moline, 7-8. Paris, 9. Quincy, 
6-8. Rockford, 6-7. Rock Island, 8-9. Shawneetown, 10-12*. Sterling, 
8-9. Waukegan, 9. 

Pork, per 100 pounds : In Alton, 400-450 cents. Aurora, 475-525. Batavia, 
550-600. Belvidere, 425. Central City, 450-500. Chicago, 500-550. Dix- 
on, 400-500. Freeport, 400-565. Galena, 300-425. Galesburg, 400-475. 
Geneseo, 450-475. Jacksonville, 375-450. Joliet, 550-600. Kankakee, 400. 
La Salle, 550-600. Mendota, 500. Monmouth, 450-500. Oquawka, 450- 
500. Ottawa, 500. Pontiac, 450-500. Rock Island, 450-500. Shelbyville, 
500. Springfield, 400. Sterling, 700-800. Walnut Grove, 450-500. Wau- 
kegan, 600-650. 

Beef, per pound: In Chicago, 4-5 cents. Clinton, 5-7. Dixon, 5-6. Joliet, 5- 
6J. Knoxville, 6. Marshall, 5. Monmouth, 6-8. Paris, 5-7. Pontiac, 6 
-7. Shelbyville, 5-8. Sterling, 7-8. Walnut Grove, 5-6. Waukegan, 4-5. 

Mutton, per pound: Ln Chicago, 3-4 cents. Springfield, 4. Waukegan, 
4-5. 

Lard, per pound: In Aurora, 12§ cents. Batavia, 10-12. Beardstown, 10. 
Cairo, 14. Central City, 9-10. Chicago, 11-13. Clinton, 10-12. Dixon,- 
11. Freeport, 8-10. Galena, 9. Galesburg, 10-11. Geneseo, 8-10. Jack- 
sonville, 10-12J. Kankakee, 8. Knoxville, 8. Marshall, 10. Moline, 10- 
12$. Monmouth, 10. Morris, 12. Paris, 10. Pontiac, 8-10. Quincy, 9- 
10. Rockford, 10. Rock Island, 9-10. Shelbyville, 10. Springfield, 10- 
12£. Sterling, 10. Waukegan, 10-12. 



MARKET-PRICES. 375 

Butter, per pound: In Alton, 15-25 cents. Aurora, 20. Beardstown, 15- 
20. Belvidere, 20. Cairo, 25. Central City, 20. Chicago, 18-25. Clinton, 
20-25. Dixon, 20-23. Decatur, 20-25. Freeport, 16-18. Galena, 16-20. 
Galesburg, 22-25. Geneseo, 20-25. Jacksonville, 15-20, Jerseyville, 20- 
25. Joliet, 18-20. Kankakee, 18. Knoxville, 15-20. La Salle, 20-25. 
Marshall, 16. Moline, 25-30. Monmouth, 20. Morris, 18-20. Oquawka, 
20. Ottawa, 20. Paris, 20. Peoria, 25-30. Pontiac, 20. Quincy, 20-25. 
Rockford, 16-18. Rock Island, 15-30. Shelbyville, 15. Springfield, 20-25. 
Sterhng, 17-20. Walnut Grove, 25. Waukegan, 20-22. 

Cheese, per pound: In Aurora, 9J cents. Batavia, 10-12. Cairo, 10-11. 
Chicago, 8-12. Clinton, 15-16. Freeport, 11-15. Geneseo, 10-12}. Jer- 
seyville, 12J-15. Joliet, 12-15. Kankakee, 10. Knoxville, 10-12}. La 
Salle, 11§-12}. Moline, 11-15. Monmouth, 12. Morris, 9-10. Quincy, 
10-12. Rockford, 8-10. Springfield, 12J-15. Sterling, 10-13. Wauke- 
gan, 12. 

Turkeys, each : In Alton, 50-75 cents. Batavia, 8-10 per lb. Beardstown, 
60. Belvidere, 7 per lb. Chicago, 9-10 per lb. Clinton, 50-60. Decatur, 
50-60. Galena, 75. Monmouth, 50-60. Peoria, 75-100. Springfield, 50- 
75. Waukegan, 75-100. 

Geese, each : In Alton, 30-40 cents. Chicago, 50-60. Galena, 50. Wau- 
kegan, 37J. 

Ducks, per dozen: In Alton, 250 cents. Chicago, 125-150. 

Chickens, per dozen: In Alton, 200-225. Aurora, 7 per lb. Batavia, 6-8 
per lb. Beardstown, 150. Belvidere, 10 each. Central City, 140-200. 
Chicago, 18-20 each. Clinton, 150. Dixon, 20 each. Decatur, 175. Ga- 
lena, 15 each. Geneseo, 8 per lb. Jacksonville, 150. Jerseyville, 150. 
Marshall, 125^150. Monmouth, 150. Paris, 150. Peoria, 20 each. Quincy, 
150-200. Rockford, 7 per lb. Rock Island, 165-200. Shawneetown, 100- 
125. Springfield, 155-175. Waukegan, 150-175. 

Eggs, per dozen: In Alton, 16-18 cents. Aurora, 20-22. Batavia, 20-22. 
Beardstown, 12}. Belvidere, 20. Cairo, 15-20. Central City, 15. Chi- 
cago, 25-27. Clinton, 10-15. Dixon, 20. Decatur, 20. Freeport, 18-20. 
Galena, 20-25. Galesburg, 18-20. Geneseo, 18-20. Jacksonville, 15-20. 
Jerseyville, 20. Joliet, 18-25. Kankakee, 18. Knoxville, 8. La Salle, 20 
-25. Marshall, 10. Moline, 25. Monmouth, 20. Morris, 20. Oquawka, 
20. Ottawa, 18. Paris, 8. Peoria, 25. Pontiac, 15-20. Quincy, 15-20. 
Rockford, 20. \Rock Island, 35. Shawneetown, 8-10. Shelby ville, 10. 
Springfield, 20-25. Sterling, 20-23. Walnut Grove, 18. Waukegan, 25. 

Prairie Chickens, per dozen: Ln Alton, 225 cents. Central City, 175-200. 
Waukegan, 200. 

Wood, per cord : In Alton, 450-500 cents. Central City, 200. Chicago, 
600-1000. Clinton, 250. Dixon, 400-500. Decatur, 250-300. Galesburg, 
350-500. Geneseo, 300. Jerseyville, 250-300. Joliet, 400-500. Rockford, 
200-500. Rock Island, 400-500. Springfield, 500. Sterling, 600. 



GEOLOGY AND MINING. 

The entire area of Illinois seems at one period to have been a level 
plain, or ocean bed, which has not since been disturbed by any consi- 
derable upheaval. The present irregularities of the surface are clearly 
traceable to the washing out and carrying away of the earth which 
once filled the spaces occupied by our valley. The Illinois River has 
washed out a valley about 250 feet deep, and from Ij to 6 miles wide. 
The perfect regularity of the beds of mountain limestone, sandstone, 
and coal, as they are found protruding out of the bluffs on each side 
of this valley, on the same levels, is pretty conclusive evidence, that 
the valley itself owes its existence to the long-continued action of the 
water. The lower bed of the coal as at present worked, which is 30 
feet above the river, is found along the banks of Kickapoo Creek for 
15 miles from its mouth at nearly the same elevation from the water. 
The upper bed of coal is 65 feet above the lower, and 95 feet above 
the bed of the river. The mountain limestone is 65 fegt above the 
upper bed of coal, and 160 feet above the river. It is supposed that 
there is another, or third workable bed of coal, below the bed of the 
river. The limestone and the three uppermost beds of coal are iden- 
tical in character at La Salle and in Peoria County. This lowermost 
bed of coal, as found at La Salle, is quite different in its quality from 
the other two, and is quite free from sulphur. 

Among the valuable natural products noted up to this time, may be 
mentioned the ores of iron, lead, and zinc ; coal, porcelain earth, fire- 
clay, potter's clay, fuller's earth, marble, oolitic marble, limestone, 
grit-stones, flags, &c. The value of the salt-springs in the southern 
portion of the State, cannot yet be estimated. Notwithstanding they 
have been worked from the earliest settlement of the country, nothing 
sufficient seems to have been developed, upon which an estimate of 
their true value could be based. The investigations made in the 

(376) 



GEOLOGY AND MINING. o<7 

southern coal region, have led to some conclusions, which will, ulti- 
mately, be of great service to the public in preventing the loss of ca- 
pital by vain explorations for that mineral in sections where it does 
not exist, and also by pointing out the special conditions under which 
labor and capital may be employed with a prospect of success. 

Marble, lime, and sandstone are found, either the one or the other, 
in each county; secondary sandstone forms the basis of the rocks in 
the whole northern part of the State. Near Athens, in Du Page 
County, fine, milk-white limestone quarries have been found; the 
stone is of a marble-like appearance, and susceptible of receiving an 
excellent polish. Near Chicago is found quite a peculiar variety of 
stone, of a dark grey color, a variety of marble, of a granulous 
cleavage, from which a bituminous matter constantly oozes. 

If lime should ever be largely used in farming concerns in Illinois, 
or if it should be deemed worth while to export it, many of the coun- 
ties would be able to supply large quantities of it. 

Sandstone, which when dug out, hardens through the influence of 
the air, is preferred to lime. In Randolph County are the finest 
marble quarries. Quartz crystals are found in Gallatin, and the ad- 
jacent counties; gypsum in St. Clair County. In general, however, 
metallic ores are considered to be of a higher value ; and though in 
this branch Illinois cannot boast of gold and silver mines, it is in pos- 
session of other ores which are of a far greater importance. There 
are in the Sfate two hilly districts, one in the north-e^st of the State, \J%? 
north of Galena, which derived its name from galena (lead ore), and 
one in the south of Illinois, in the counties of Union, Johnson, Pope, 
Hardin, Gallatin, and Williamson, which latter seems to be a continu- 
ation of the hilly regions which are encompassed by the Cumberland 
and Tennessee Rivers. These two districts form the metallic region. 
The southern metallic districts have only been worked for a few years. 

In prospecting and sinking shafts for the lead mineral, or galena, 
after penetrating the earth from 40 to 70, and even 100 feet, the 
miner sometimes finds himself in caverns of different dimensions, va- 
rying in size from about three to six rods. It will sometimes happen 
that he hits on a crevice, which hardly affords space enough to crowd 
the body through. A great many of these subterranean apartments 
present scenes of grand and brilliant splendor, from the various crys- 
32* 



378 GEOLOGY AND MINING. 

tallizations found in them. Calcareous spar, in great diversity and 
beauty of shape, is often found in considerable quantities, in some of 
the richest of these mineral-bearing grottoes. 

In some of the caves, more particularly in the vicinity of the cop- 
per mines, the sulphates of lime are to be found in different forms, 
such as opaque plaster and gypsum; and sometimes in beautiful crys- 
tallized forms, as selenites and alabastritcs, which are generally of a 
pure, sparkling white. The richest and most abundant lead ore is ge- 
nerally found in caves, beneath an earth whose drippings are fruitful 
with these beautiful specimens of spar; it is in most cases a clay or 
marl soil, in which aluminum constitutes a large ingredient, and 
where soap-clay is found in abundance. It can be easily cut or mo- 
delled into various forms and images, and hardens when dried — but 
shakes into fragments when exposed to the air. 

Iron is one of the most considerable productions of the State. 

In the year 1850, the pig iron produced in this State amounted in 
value to $65,000, for which iron 5500 tons of ore were required. Of 
cast iron, 4477 tons were manufactured of pig iron, and 50 tons of 
old iron. The entire capital invested in the iron manufacture, 
amounted to $325,400; the cost of the ore, expenses, &c, to $197,- 
830; wages, $153,264; and the total value of the manufactured ar- 
ticle, to $511,385. 

Copper has been found in large quantities, in the northern counties 
of the State, especially at the mouth of Plum Creek, and other little 
creeks. It is also found in small quantities in Jackson County, on 
Muddy River, and back of Harrisonville, in the bluffs of rivers in 
Munroe County, to some small extent. 

Zinc exists in considerable quantities in several districts of the 
State. 

Silver has been found in rather small quantities in St. Clair County, 
two miles from Rock Spring ; whence Silver Creek has derived its 
name. It is said that in early times, the French sunk a sj^aft here, 
and tradition tells us that considerable quantities of the metal were 
then obtained ; and it is even asserted that in the southern part of the 
State, several sections of land were reserved from sale, owing to the 
silver ore which they were supposed to contain. 

Before commencing to speak of coal mines in this State, it will not 



GEOLOGY AND MINING, 379 

be improper to give a few more hints with regard to the geological 
formation of this vast State, which may serve as an addition to what 
was already mentioned, concerning geology, at the beginning of this 
chapter. 

The profile of the country, in fact, does not present one uniform, 
dead level, but a succession of gentle undulations, which have very 
forcibly been compared to the swells of the ocean. The highest, or 
culminating points, attain an elevation of not more than 800 feet above 
the Ohio River, and about 300 feet above the level of Lake Michigan. 
The valleys cut through the superfical deposits, and occasionally ex- 
pose the rocky strata beneath ; while from the main channels start nu- 
merous ravines. 

The Illinois Central Railroad passes over all those systems of 
rocks which are included between the Upper Carboniferous, and the 
Lower Silurian. The greater portion of the underlying rocks con- 
sists of sandstone, shale, and limestone. The question has, as yet, 
not been solved, whether they form an uninterrupted assemblage of 
strata, dipping towards a common centre, or are arranged like the Ap- 
palachian coal-field, in a series of undulations. 

The continuity of the coal-bed has been found in one or two in- 
stances, to be interrupted by older rocks, interfering between them ; 
but if the supposition be made that the coal-bearing strata had once 
been arranged in a series of waves, or corrugations, and that in the 
progress of time their crests had been abraded, so as to expose the 
subjacent rocks, all those phenomena would be exhibited which one 
attempts to explain by a resort to limited basins. 

Geological Structure of the Southern Division. — The strata conti- 
guous to the above mentioned railroad, mav best be divided into three 
groups, which are in the ascending order, thus : — 

Group I. — Alternation of blue compact limestone, black slate, and 
fine-grained sandstone, with traces of hydrated brown iron ores.' 

Group II. — Small pebbles, mill-stone and grindstone grit, and 
sandstone of various colors, or variegated sandstone. 

Group III. — Alternations of shale with vegetable impressions, fire- 
clays, impure limestone, and sandstone, with seams of coal, and traces 
of iron carbonate. 

Geological Structure of the Northern Division. — In the northern, 



380 GEOLOGY AND MINING. 

or north-eastern part of the State, adjacent to the Central Railroad, 
is found the La Salle coal-field, the northern margin of which extends 
but a few miles north of the Chicago and Rock Island Road. The 
intermediate space between its outcrop and galena, is occupied by 
groups of strata below the Carboniferous. 

The buff-colored magnesian-limestone also belongs to this series; 
in its texture it is compact, and close-grained, and may be worked 
easily by the chisel, into any form, and is from that reason very well 
adapted for building, the more so, since it is but little more expensive 
than brick. It is found in layers, the under surfaces of which are 
covered with water-marks. Such rocks as contain a large number of 
ingredients, not chemically combined, are apt to crumble ; but this ob- 
jection does not apply in this case. 

Near La Salle, Dr. Norwood, the State Geologist, discovered one of 
the most interesting facts in the history of the Carboniferous period 
of America, viz : the existence of the coal seams upon the upturned 
strata of the Lower Silurian series. 

Visiting the " Split Rock," about three miles east of La Salle, he 
observed a coal-seam with a thin intervention of shale, occasionally 
wanting this, reposing, though only at intervals, upon strata which 
contain fossils belonging to some of the earliest forms of organic life. 

The vast series of rocks that are so conspicuously displayed in the 
slate of New York and Pennsylvania, interposed between the Lower 
Silurian, and the productive coal strata, as well as the carboniferous 
limestones and sandstones, which form so prominent a feature in the 
geology of Southern Illinois, are here entirely wanting. Examining 
further, it will be perceived that the sandstone here comes out in bold 
scarps, and is surmounted by limestone containing fossils, and reposes 
upon a magnesian limestone which contains traces of early animal life. 
This sandstone stratum is about 100 feet in thickness. 

The limestone reposing upon it, according to Dr. Norwood's mea- 
surement, is about 250 feet thick. 

The coal-field at La Salle occupies the trough-like depression thua 
created. Its lowest seam sometimes reposes upon the older rocks. 
Its thickness is from three to four feet. Between the lower seam 
and the middle one, there is an interval of 176 feet, consisting of 
alternations of shale and limestone, with thin bands of sandstone. 



GEOLOGY AND MINING. 881 

The middle seam is about six feet in thickness; the upper part, 
for the distance of a foot, or fifteen inches, consists of an impure, 
slaty cannel. The upper seam, appearing 53 feet above, is nearly 
four feet thick. The interval between consists of alternations of 
shale and limestone, with a belt of sandstone twenty feet in thick- 
ness. The coal seams dip towards the south-west. The mines are on 
the right bank of the canal, and adjacent to the Chicago and Rock 
Island Railroad. 

Illinois has as much and perhaps more coal than any other State 
in the Union. Till within the last few years her mines have been 
very imperfectly worked, but it is found, that as the deposits are 
worked at a greater depth, the quality becomes much better, and there 
is no doubt that after a few years, the people of Illinois will.be able 
to supply their own markets, with fuel equal to the best Pennsylvania 
or Ohio coal. 

Nature, in fact, seems to have anticipated the inconvenience to 
which the inhabitants of the prairies would be subjected by the 
scarcity of timber for fuel, and long ago provided for it a compensation, 
by carefully storing beneath their surface, an almost unlimited supply 
of excellent mineral, or stone coal. Nearly the entire State is under- 
laid with it, south of a line running west, from the southern extremity 
of Lake Michigan. It is found at a little depth below the surface, 
and crops out upon the banks of most of the streams in that part of 
the State. 

There is no doubt that this article must ultimately become a great 
source of wealth to this region of the country, and it already attracts 
the attention of capitalists. 

Mining is largely practised on the line of the Chicago, Burlington, 
and Quiucy Railroads, in the counties of Stark and Knox, by means 
of shafts sunk in the prairie, immediately on the line of the road. 
Also on the line of the Chicago, and Rock Island Railroad, in Grundy, 
La Salle, Bureau, and Rock Island Counties. Extensive works are 
in operation at the city of Rock Island, where a large amount is 
mined from the outcrop of the veins in that vicinity. 

The mines at Sheffield are owned and worked by a wealthy com- 
pany, and are yielding a large amount of good coal, which is chiefly 



382 GEOLOGY AND MINING. 

shipped to Chicago. The coal is raised from these mines by a station- 
ary engine. 

The La Salle coal basin, in La Salle County, contains the most ex- 
tensive and valuable deposits of coal on the northern outcrop. 

,The lower seam of coal crops out in the bluffs of the Illinois, 
from the eastern boundary of the county, to near La Salle, where a 
sand-ridge occurs, running in a north-west and south-east direction, 
thus dividing the Ottawa and La Salle coal-fields. 

The La Salle coal basin contains three workable beds of coal, which 
are of about the following average thicknesses : — The lower bed, two 
and a half to three feet ; the middle bed, five and a half to six feet ; 
the upper bed about four and a half feet. These beds "crop out" in 
the bluffs of the Little Vermillion River, and adjacent ravines; and 
all reappear in the bluffs of the Big Vermillion, on the south side of 
the Illinois River; the lower bed being here four feet thick; some fif- 
teen to eighteen miles up this stream, the middle vein is found eight 
feet thick, and of good quality. The coal is found all along the Big 
Vermillion, from its mouth, near La Salle, to the southern boundary 
of the county. It also extends into the northern part of Livingston 
County. 

The La Salle coal basin embraces an area of country about eighteen 
miles in length, by ten miles in breadth, being 180 miles square, or, 
114,000 acres. A coal bed, one foot thick, contains 1400 tons per 
acre, and estimating the workable coal to be twelve feet in thickness, 
the average yield would be 16,800 tons per acre, or to the whole coal 
basin the quantity of 1,931,920,000 tons. 

Although the usual method for working consists in sinking shafts, 
to reach the coal beds, at various depths, another system of mining has 
lately been carried on, which is called drifting. 

A vertical shaft is run into the coal bed, entering at the "out crop," 
and this method has been found a very successful one. 

At La Salle, all three of the beds are worked by " drifts." There 
are some twelve to fifteen openings on the bank of the canal, and in 
the valley of the Little Vermillion, and contiguous ravines. The 
lower bed of coal i3 now being worked to some extent, at Marseilles, 
near the eastern boundary of the county. The bed is largely worked 
at Buffalo Rock, and near Ottawa, for the supply of that city, the sur- 



GEOLOGY AND MINING. 383 

rounding country, and the shipping. The variety of coal principally 
found here, as well as in the whole State, is the bituminous j but an 
excellent article of cannel coal has lately become known. It was 
taken from a shaft opened a few miles above La Salle, near the Rock 
Island Road, where a vein about eighteen inches thick has lately been 
struck, and is likely to increase in thickness as far as progress is 
made. The coal is of a quality equal to the best Liverpool Cannel 
Coal that was ever seen ; it is equally frangible, susceptible of as fine 
polish, does not soil the fingers, and leaves but four or five per cent, 
of ashes. 

The following companies, whose shafts are located for the greater 
part in the neighborhood of the Little Vermillion River, and Swan- 
son Ravine, from one to four miles distant from La Salle, all carry on 
their coal-mining by " drifting :" 

Field & Rounds; Egletson & Parsons ; A. J. Hartshorne; La Salle 
Coal Mining Co.; James Forsyth; Munsell & Heath; J. Robsan & 
Co.; William Ireland; Sanderson & Co. ; Thomas Evans ; William 
Reevely. 

It will not be uninteresting to give some information here, in rela- 
tion to the operations of some of these companies. The first named, 
Field & Rounds' coal bank, is situated immediately west of the tun- 
nel on the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad, about two miles east of 
La Salle. They are working the lower bed of coal by three different 
drifts, the entrances to which are but a few rods from the Illinois. and 
Michigan Canal, and the Rock Island Road. They employ at present 
about sixty-five miners, with eight laborers, a carpenter, blacksmith, 
teamsters, &c, and are mining about sixty tons per day. The bed of 
coal which they are working, averages about three feet in thickness. 
The quality of coal now being taken out from their drifts, which have 
been carried in to the extent of about 150 yards — is said to be the 
best ever taken from the lowest bed. With but little addition to 
their present working force, they can very easily mine 100 tons per 
day. At most of their banks coal is worth two dollars and a half per 
ton. 

The La Salle Coal Mining Co., generally known by the name of 
the " Kentucky Co.," have been for several months past engaged in 
sinking a shaft on the west side of Little Vermillion River, near the 



384 GEOLOGY AND MINING. 

line of the Illinois Central Railroad, about one mile north of La Salle. 
This is the first shaft that has yet been sunk in the La Salle coal 
basin, west of the Little Vermillion. The first, or upper workable 
bed of coal was reached at the depth of 198 feet. The company is 
expecting to be able to mine and hoist not less than 100 tons per day, 
or 30,000 tons a year. There are at present in the La Salle coal 
basin, about twenty, or even more, shafts open and being opened. 
The number of men employed in and about these works, is about 300. 
The amount of coal taken out is about 600 tons per week, of which 
about 450 tons are sent off by the Illinois Central Railroad, while the 
remainder is sold at the banks for home consumption. The price for 
which the coal is delivered at La Salle is four dollars per ton. The 
price paid for mining is five cents per bushel, and about 27 bushels 
make up a ton. Where mining is carried on upon leased land, one 
cent per bushel, or twenty -five cents per ton, is paid to the land 
owner, as a bank-rent, or " royalty." 

The price of transportation on the railroad, from La Salle to Men- 
dota, is 75 cents per ton ; to Amboy, $1 ; to Dixon, $1 35 ; to Polo, 
$1 65; to Forreston, $1 75; to Freeport, $2; to Eleroy, $2 25; to 
Lena, $2 25; to Warren, $2 75; to Apple River, $3; to Galena, $3; 
to Dunleith, $3 50. 

As the land owners, who lease lands to practical miners, receive a 
"royalty" of twenty five cents per ton, for the coal taken out, the re- 
venues thus obtained, alone yield $4,200 to the acre. 

The La Salle Basin, being the northern limit of the coal in this 
State, the market to be supplied must, for centuries to come, continue 
as great as the supply which can be furnished. Chicago will also af- 
ford a constant demand. Erie coal sells in that city at $8 per ton ; 
while La Salle coal, adding the cost of transportation, which by canal 
would not exceed one dollar per ton, can be sold at $5, and even less. 

The Peru Coal Mining Company has been organized for some time, 
and intend to commence the work of sinking their shaft immediately. 

The Chicago and Danville Coal Mining Company. The deposit of 
the said company is at Danville, in Vermillion County. The Great 
Western Railroad, which passes through Danville, crosses this field 
from east to west. They have made arrangements for working these 
mines extensively, with a view to supply the country along the line 



^ 



GEOLOGY AND MINING. 38t) 

of the Chicago branch of trie Illinois Central Railroad, as well as the 
Chicago market. 

The Northern Coal Mining and Transportation Company, is the 
name of a new association, lately formed at La Salle ; their coal beds 
are adjacent to the lands of the La Salle Coal Mining Company ; they 
are about to commence operations by sinking a shaft on the line of 
the Central Railroad, about half a mile further north. 

The mines in the vicinity of Morris, in Grundy County, are yield- 
ing a large amount of coal. 

The Kingston Coal Mines are situated in Peoria County, and the 
lands of that region consist of about 1180 acres. The depth at which 
the coal lies varies, the surface being very uneven. Its greatest depth 
is seventy-five feet, while in other places, even where it has been 
worked, it is no more than ten. It lies 108 feet above the river level. 
It is divided into two unequal parts by the intervention of a thin 
stratum of plastic clay. 

There are also extensive and valuable mines on the line of the Il- 
linois Central Railroad, in the southern part of the State. Those at 
Du Quoine, and De Soto, are yielding abundance of a good quality. 

The valleys of the Sangamon and Spoon Rivers also contain beds 
of coal, and it is also found in Schuyler, and several other counties 
lying between the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers---that district usu- 
ally "called the " Military Tract." 

Salt Springs are found in the southern counties. Several years 
since they were worked quite extensively, and as some of them yielded 
largely, they will doubtless again come into use, as soon as it shall be 
deemed practicable to invest more capital in the enterprise, and when 
labor becomes less expensive, so as to enable the owners to work them 
with profit. 

With regard to this branch of industry, the reader may direct his 
attention to the Saline, Coal, and Manufacturing Company. This 
company has bought a portion of land, commencing at a point about 
two miles below the mouth of the Saline, on the Ohio River, (106 
miles above the mouth of the latter,) in Gallatin County, Illinois, and 
extending two miles along the banks of the Ohio, from the mouth of 
the Saline. 

The fact of the existence of salt here, was well known, even whilst 
33 z 



386 GEOLOGY AND MINING. 

this spot was yet Indian territory, when millions of bushels were ma- 
nufactured. When it was ceded to the United States, by a treaty 
made with the Indians, such portions of the tract as were known to 
contain a salt deposit, or other minerals, were reserved from sale by 
the government. However, it was subsequently donated to the State 
of Illinois. It is supposed that some 15,000 bushels of salt can be 
obtained, per annum, from these Salines. The company, however, 
have made the production of. iron their principal business. The diffi- 
culties in carrying on the salt manufacture are by no means as great 
here, as in Missouri, on the iron mountains, or on Lake Superior — as 
in those places the facilities for conveyance are not fully established. 

The company, with their capital of three millions, have on hand a 
sufficiency of fuel, and have very excellent landing and shipping places, 
and considering the continued and constantly increasing demand for 
iron, they cannot be in want of custom. The annual call for bar iron 
amounts to 350,000 tons, of which 250,000 are imported. The land 
in this section is well timbered, and furnishes a first class building 
material ; numerous salt springs water the land. The coal veins cross- 
ing the land at this place are of an average thickness of 32 feet, and 
the coal contained in these beds is estimated at about 180 millions of 
tons, while the quality of coal is said to be as good as any in the 
whole State of Illinois. 

In the southern part of Illinois deposits, of marble of different co- 
lors have been found. They will compare favorably with most of the 
imported marbles, used for ornamental purposes, and it closely resem- 
bles some varieties of Egyptian. marble. Several pieces of black mar- 
ble, remarkable for depth of color, and high polish, have lately come 
from that region. A light-colored, nearly white marble, from the vi- 
cinity of Thebes, appears to be among the best that has been met, for 
almost every purpose of in and out-door work. 

A specimen of marble conglomerate from Pike County, is one of 
the most beautiful ornamental rocks that has ever been met with in 
the West. It much resembles the "Potomac marble/' used in the 
pillars of the capital at Washington, and seems to be quite durable. 

Argentiferous Lead Ore. — There is a quantity of lead now worked 
by the Linden Mining Coynpany, near Chicago, which is highly 
argentiferous. Three specimens of the ore, assayed by a competent 



GEOLOGY AND MINING. 887 

assayer, of Philadelphia, Peons ylvania, hav-e yielded : 1840 ounces 
of silver to the ton of ore; another, 1200, and the third, 1600 ounces. 
The agent of the company, not satisfied with this test, has sent an 
average sample of the ore to Dr. Hays, of Boston, the State Assayer 
of Massachusetts. Should he pronounce it argentiferous, containing 
only the lowest estimate of the Philadelphia assayer, then there can 
be no doubt, judging from the quantity of ore already raised, the 
known extent of the mine, and the ease and cheapness with which it 
is worked, that it is far the most valuable mine of any description in 
the United States. 

The two north-western counties of the State of Illinois, form a part 
of the richest and most extensive lead region known in the scientific 
world. 

During the year 1854, there were received in Chicago, by the Ga- 
lena Railroad, 4,051,346 pounds of lead; and it further appears, from 
authentic statements, that the products of these lead mines shipped dur- 
ing the last five years, from Galena, were as follows : 

1851.— 474,115 pigs, equal to 33,188,050 lbs., of the value of $1,534,062 44. 

1852.-408,628 " " 28,603,960 " " 1,178,483 95. 

1853.-425,814 " " 29,806,980 << " 1,639,383 90. 

1854.-423,617 " " 29,653,190 « " 1,630,925 45. 

1855.-430,365 " " 30,125,550 » « 1,732,219 02. 

Nothing can better show the wealth and importance of the mining 
region of the Upper Mississippi, than the above statement. The con- 
sequence is, that the city of Galena and surrounding country have 
increased in wealth and population very rapidly, of late years. 

Arrangements are now being made for the construction of white- 
lead works, at Galena, and there is no other spot in the United States, 
where a manufactory of this kind would be as profitable. 

A short time ago, a discovery of a rich layer of iron ore was made, 
about two miles distant from the little town of Moline, in Rock Island 
County. This layer is supposed to extend over a space of 75 acres. 
The veins of ore appear two or three inches below the surface of the 
earth, and they are eight or ten inches thick. 

The annexed geological map will explain to the reader the great 
geological riches of the State, more fully than it can be done by 
words. 



COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES OF 
CHICAGO. 

In compariDg Chicago, as it was a few years since, with Chicago of 
to-day, we behold a change whose veritable existence we would be in- 
clined to doubt, were it not a stern, indisputable fact. Rapid as is 
the customary development of places and things, in the United States, 
one will yet be forced to admit, that the growth of Chicago and her 
trade, stands without a parallel. Chicago, now hardly twenty years 
old, whose port in 1831 was frequented by four small vessels, two 
brigs, and two schooners, then fully adequate to satisfy the commer- 
cial wants of Northeastern Illinois and Northwestern Indiana, toge- 
ther, in 1855 witnessed, beating in her harbor, 6610 vessels, of 
1,608,845 tons burden, and in the same year exported more grain 
than any other commercial emporium throughout the world ; Chicago, 
which in 1823 was but a wretched village of ten frame huts, and sixty 
inhabitants, in 1855 numbered 83,509 inhabitants, and in the same 
year dealt more largely in timber than the markets hitherto the most 
considerable in the world can boast of. 

Thus, as far as regards the grain and lumber trade, Chicago has sur- 
passed all rivals, and as far as regards the money market, has also al- 
ready evinced that in dependence, which alone can form the safe and 
substantial basis of a far-reaching commerce. In spite of an obstinate 
bank dispute, and the diminution by several millions, of the bank 
capital of Chicago, in consequence of the redemption, in part, of the 
G-eorgia bank notes, till then circulating in Chicago, the capital con- 
centrated in that city proved, nevertheless, fully adequate to all wants 
created by the increase of business, and the immense importation of 
grain. 

There are many reasons why the position Chicago will assume a 
few years hence, will be even much more important than that which 

(388) 



COMMERCE OF CHICAGO. 389 

she now occupies ; one of the most essential of which is the opening 
of the direct line of water communication, between the city and Lake 
Superior. By the St. Mary River Canal, easy access is possible from 
Chicago to the inexhaustible iron and copper mines of Michigan ; and 
by the Illinois Central Railroad, the illimitable coal beds of Southern 
Illinois are placed within her reach ) and by these means she has se- 
cured for herself that degree of industrial development, which gives ° 
firm support and lasting warranty to trade. Already the surveyor's 
chain has designated the places in Chicago where the manufacture of 
iron wares will be carried on to such an extent, as continually to keep 
pace with the incessantly increasing demands of the immense north 
and south-west. 

No sooner were the great copper mines at Lake Superior opened, 
than the steamers of the ship-owners of Chicago hastened closely to 
attach the interests of that important region to their city ; only a short 
time has passed since, and already the wholesale dealers of Chicago 
count the people of those mining districts among their regular cus- 
tomers. The fruits of the bold, but sure policy of Chicago, are al- 
ready visible to a larger degree on another field. * 

The immense tracts of land of Middle and Southern Illinois, then 
without any, either natural or artificial, means of communication, for 
years awaited purchasers in vain, notwithstanding the low price ($1 
25) at which Congress sold each acre of the richest land, whose culti- 
vation did not present the slightest difficulty. No sooner were the 
rails of the Illinois Central Railroad laid through the entire length of 
the State, from Galena to Cairo, than towns and villages sprung into 
existence along the track, as if by magic, and the granaries of Chi- 
cago were filled with the produce of thousands of fertile acres, then 
for the first time subjected to culture. At the same time that the 
quantity of the yield increased, its quality was improved. The gene- 
ral use of machine power, nowhere proved of greater advantage than 
on the vast plains of Illinois ; the rapidly progressing intelligence of 
the Illinoisian farmers, which, far from being contented with having 
created agricultural societies in every county of the State, now already 
calls for the erection of an agricultural university, will account for the 
fact, that a great part of the grain sold as "Extra Genesee," may be 
33* 



890 COMMERCE OF CHICAGO. 

safely considered "Extra Illinois/' disguised in some shape or an- 
other. 

In consequence of these, and many other improvements, among 
which we may notice the continuation of the Galena Railroad to Du- 
buque, of the Fox River Valley Railroad to Richmond, and of the Il- 
linois and Wisconsin Railroad, to Woodstock, the Indian corn crop 
reaches the enormous yield of 130,000,000 bushels, which must be 
chiefly attributed to the advent of Southern Illinois on the commer- 
cial stage. The wheat crop of Illinois, amounting, as it does, to 
20,000,000 bushels, has secured to Chicago its prominent position 
among the grain-exporting commercial cities. In 1855, Chicago ex- 
ported twice as much grain as Galatz and Braila, the great wheat em- 
poriums of the Lower Danube, and four times as much as Dantzic, the 
place of export of the Polonian wheat. 

The following comparison of those cities in Europe which possess 
the largest corn-trade, with Chicago, will place the great importance 
of the former in this respect beyond a doubt : 

1854. Wheat. Indian Corn. Oats, Rye, & Barley. Total. 

Bushels. Bushels. Bushels. Bushels. 

Odessa 5,600,000 1,440,000 7,040,000 

Galatz, and Braila 2,400,000 .. 5,600,000 ... 320,000 8,320,000 

Dantzic 3,080,000 1,328,000 4,408,000 

St. Petersburg..., 7,200,000 

Archangel 9,528,000 

Riga 4,000,000 

Chicago 3,644,860 .. 6,837,899 ... 3,419,551 12,902,310 

Chicago (1855)... 7,115,250 .. 7,517,625 ... 2,000,938 16,633,813 

And yet the present position of Chicago is only the beginning of 
the beginning. The area of the State is upwards of 55,000 square 
miles, 80 per cent, of which are corn lands of the first quality. These 
44,000 square miles, or 28,160,000 acres, planted with Indian corn, 
at an average yield of 50 bushels per acre, would fix the productive- 
ness of the entire State, at the enormous rate of 1,408,000,000 bush- 
els. Adding to this the facility of cultivation, the reader will have an 
idea of the almost fabulous wealth, that, accumulating in Illinois, in its 
reaction upon Chicago, the great commissioned agent of these trea- 
sures, must incessantly propel her onward in her career of progress. 



COMMERCE OE CHICAGO. 391 

The eyes of the world are already fixed upon the high, commanding 
position, which Chicago assumes on the globe; this will appear from 
the fact that in 1855, agents of the French and English Governments 
attended the meetings in the Chicago Corn Exchange. Chicago, in- 
deed, is the only place in the world, where orders of many millions 
of bushels can be promptly attended to and executed. 

If thus the productiveness of the State has surpassed even the 
most sanguine expectations, the increase of so powerful an instrument 
for the acquisition of wealth, on the other hand, has also not been 
slow. Large sums of money, following the law by which they are in- 
evitably attracted to the place where they bring the highest profit, 
concentrated at Chicago, whose numerous sumptuous stores and ba- 
zaars, fitted up in the most elegant, fashionable style, and enormous 
granaries, with their steam-cranes lifting on one side of the building 
the grain from the railroad trains, and lowering it at the other side 
into the vessels, together with great numbers of new buildings, (2700 
of which were erected in a single year), as also the fact, that in every 
branch of business within her limits, the demand far exceeds the sup- 
ply, are characteristic of her prodigiously increasing prosperity. 
Everything doubled or quadrupled ! And upon reviewing the ship- 
ping interest of Chicago, we find the same surprising increase. The 
tonnage of all vessels owned by Chicago, and registered in that city 
until the end of 1855, amounts to 56,670 tons. So considerable, in- 
deed, is the commercial navy of Chicago, that in a single season, that 
of 1855, not less than 120 large vessels put into that port on one day. 
The enormous stores of grain accumulated within Chicago, keep busy 
an entire flotilla, in proof whereof, we might refer to the fact, that in 
1855, a single firm contracted for the transportation from Chicago to 
Buffalo, of 500,000 bushels, kept in store within that city. As al- 
ready mentioned, during the season of 1855, not fewer than 6610 ves- 
sels, of 1,608,845 tons burden, entered the port of Chicago. Dividing 
them into classes, according to their respective tonnage, we subjoin a 
list of the vessels registered in the Chicago custom-house, as having 
entered that port: 

Steamers of less than 500 tons 141 

from 500 to 1000 " 237 

more than 1000 " 59 



392 COMMERCE OF CHICAGO. 

Screw steamers, of less than 400 tons 193 

" more " 287 

Sailing vessels of less than 150 tons 2,131 

« from 150 to 350 " , 2,546 

" from 350 to 500 " 865 

» of over 500 " 100 

With respect to her commerce and navigation, Chicago has already 
projected a new enterprise, which, if executed, as no doubt it will be, 
taking into consideration the indomitable energy of the west, must as- 
tonish the world ; nothing less being intended than to place Chicago, 
an inland city, situated in the far west, 1500 miles from the seaboard 
— in possession of direct communication by sea with all the sea-port 
towns of the world, by shortening the eastern water-passage from Chi- 
cago some 500 miles, and avoiding the dangerous St. Clair Flats. 
Using Georgia Bay and several small Canadian lakes, it is contem- 
plated to connect Lake Huron with Lake Ontario, thus opening for 
the commerce of Chicago a free access to the Atlantic. 

The commerce of Chicago was also favorably affected by the Cana- 
dian reciprocal treaty, her lumber trade receiving a considerable im- 
pulse from the Canadian imports, in consequence of that treaty. 
While pushing her railroads far into the interior of the pine forests 
of Wisconsin, Chicago at the same time sends her fleet to the Cana- 
dian hickory forests, paying, with the luxuriant grain of the fertile 
Illinoisian prairies, for the timber which the people of Illinois require 
for building their houses, or fencing their lands. 

We will now review the state of the Chicago market, as far as regards 
the various staple articles : 

Flour.— While in 1853 not more than 18,247, and in 1854, 158,- 
575 barrels of flour were imported, the quantity of flour imported in 
1855 reached the colossal amount of 240,662 barrels. Besides these, 
three mills of Chicago turned out 79,650 barrels, thus making an ag- 
gregate of 320,312 barrels for the year 1855. 

Owing to the increased European demand, prices ranged higher in 
1855 than in 1854, as may be seen from the following table : 

1854. 1855. 

January t per barrel $5 50 $7 50 

February " 6 75 ... 7 50 





COMMERCE OP 


CHICAGO. 








1854, 


1855. 




«< 


7 25 


... 7 50 


April 

May 

June 


tt 


7 25 


... 7 50 


tt 


7 25 


... 7 50 


>### a 


7 75 


... 9 75 


July 

August 


a 


8 25 


... 9 75 


tt 


7 75 


.... 8 75 


September . 


#### a 


8 25 


... 8 25 


October 


tt 


8 25 


... 7 25 


November.. 


tt 


7 75 


... 9 00 


December.. 


it 


7 50 


... 8 00 



393 



Wheat, — The wheat import reached the already very considerable 
total of 3,038,955 bushels in 1854, while in 1855, more than double 
this quantity was exported, viz., 7,535,097 bushels. No other mar- 
ket on earth can boast of such a traffic ; and the facts, that the harvest 
of 1855 was by no means one of the best, and that, in every new year, 
many additional thousands of acres are subjected to culture, cause us 
to conjecture such a development and progress in this branch of busi- 
ness, in Chicago, as would startle even the boldest calculation. 

The following table shows the prices as they ranged in 1854 and 
1855: 



1854. 
Summer. Winter. 



1855. 
Summer. Winter. 



January cts. per bushel 95 115 

February..... " 120 140 

March " 106 130 

April " 100 120 

May « 130 150 

June " 130 150 

July " 100 120 

August " s - 110 150 

September " 120 140 

October " 105 140 

November " 125 145 

December " 110 125 



120 
118 
122 
145 
160 
170 
155 
110 
110 
135 
146 
135 



140 
150 
155 
160 
200 
200 
185 
150 
145 
165 
175 
165 



Indian Corn almost everywhere failed in 1854, in consequence 
of the wet season, so that the importation of 1855, it was supposed, 
would scarcely equal that of the preceding year ; and yet, while the 
maize import of 1854 amounted to 7,490,753 bushels, that of 1855 



894 



COMMERCE OF CHICAGO. 



amounted to 8,532,377 bushels, being an increase of 1,031,624 bush- 
els. The prices in 1854 and 1855 were as follows : 



1854. 

January 55 

February 46 

March 50 

April 44 

May , 45 

June 46 

July 51 

August 55 

September 61 

October 55 

November 52 

December . 47 



Per bushel of 60 lbs. 

1855. 

40 

51 

51 

...» 55 

69 

76 

73 

72 

69 

64 

72 

50 



Oats. — In 1855, the importation of oats had diminished by 
1,247,197 bushels, in comparison with the preceding year ; this may be 
ascribed to the fact, that the cultivation of this species of corn proves 
least profitable to the farmer. The imports in 1854, amounted to 
4,194,385 bushels, and in 1855, to 2,947,188 bushels, and the prices 
were as follows : 



1854. 



May 

June 

July 

August , 

September 32 

October 33 

November 32 



31 33 



1855. 
26@27 
30 



January 26@26£ 

February 30 31 

March 27 28£ 29 30 

April 26| 27 



34 

30 31 44 46 

30 31 J 48 

45 46 



45 



l 30 44 

33 25 26 

34 ... 25 26 

33 28 30 



December 28 28 28 30 



Rye. — The rye imports had also diminished, partly owing to the 
indifferent demand, it being less cultivated than other species of 



COMMERCE OF CHICAGO. 395 

corn, and partly because considerable quantities of it were used for 
distillery purposes. The imports of 1854 amounted to 85,691 bush- 
els—those of 1855, to 68,086. The prices in 1854 and 1855, were 
as follows : 





1854. 


1855. 


January 


55@60 


70@75 


February 

March 


70 


75 


70 75 


75 

65 


78 


75 85 


April 


70 


88 90 


May 


70 


75 


95 100 


June 


70 


75 


110 120 


July 


80 


85 


100 


August 


55 


60 


70 80 


September 


65 


70 


70 75 


October .. 


80 


85 


83 85 


NoTember 


80 


81 


90 93 


December 


65 


70 , 


95 100 



Barley. — The imports of 1854 amounted to 201,764 bushels, and 
in 1855 to 201,895 bushels, or about the same. The price of barley 
ranged considerably higher in 1855 than in 1854, as will appear from 
the following : 

1854. 1855. 

January 43@47 90 100 

February 45 50 , 110 120 

March 56 58 100 112 

April 50 56 115 125 

May 65 70 115 125 

June 50 60 75 100 

July , 50 55 100 

August 45 50 ; 80 85 

September 50 60 80 90 

October 85 90 100 110 

November 90 100 115 130 

December 75 85 130 135 

The imports in 1854 and 1855, of the various species of grain, 
amounted in the aggregate to the followiDg totals, respectively : 



COMMERCE OF CHICAGO. 

1854. 1855. 

Bushels. Bushels. 

Wheat , .. 3,038,955 7,535,097 

Indian Corn 7,490,753 8,532,377 

Oats 4,194,385 2,947,188 

Eye 85,691 68,086 

Barley 201,764 201,895 



15,011,548 19,284,643 

Flour (set down as wheat) 792,875 1,203,310 



Total 15,804,423 ....20,487,953 

The total export of grain was as follows : 

1854. 1855. 

Bushels. Bushels. 

Wheat 2,106,725 6,298,155 

Indian Corn.. 6,837,899 7,517,625 

Oats 3,229,987 1,889,538 

Rye 41,153 19,318 

Barley 148,421 92,082 



12,364,185 15,816,718 

Flour (set down as wheat) 538,135 817,095 



Total , 12,902,320 16,633,813 

Grass-seeds ; chiefly timothy-grass, less of clover, or flax. The im- 
ports of 1854 amounted to 3,047,945, and of 1855, to 3,024,238 
pounds. The price of timothy-seed varied between $2 and $2 37 \ 
per bushel. 

Butter. — Imports in 1854 amounted to 2,143,569 pounds; in 1855, 
to 2,473,982 pounds. Although the excellent pasturage grounds, of 
which the prairies of Illinois consist, offer great advantages for the 
preparation of cheese and butter, but little attention is directed to it. 
The market prices of butter, in 1854 and 1855, were as follows : 

1854. 1855. 

January 13@16 

February. 11@15 12 13 

March 10 15 12 14 

April 9 14 12 14 



COMMERCE OF CHICAGO. 397 

1854. 1855. 

May 9@16 12@13 

June 9 14 12 13 

July 11 13 12 13 

August 12 14 12 14 

September 12| 15 14 19 

October 17 25 14 15 

November 12 15 ......... s 15 19 

December 13 20 18 20 

Lard. — Imports in 1854 amounted to 4,380,978 pounds; those of 
1855 cannot be exactly stated, (lard being chiefly mentioned under 
the head of pork and provisions,) however, they are estimated at from 
5 to 6,000,000 pounds. Prices can be seen from the following table : 

1854. 1855. 

January 8f@9 8£@9 

February 8J 9 8 8£ 

March 9 10 8 8* 

April 8J 9 8 8£ 

May 8* 9 9 9J 

June. 8£ 9 9 9£ 

July... 8J 9 10 

August 8J 9 10 10£ 

September 9£ 10 10J 11 

October lo" 10 11 12 

November 9J 10 11 12J 

December 9 10 11 12 

Hogs and Pork. — The trade of Chicago has of late so considerably 
increased in this respect, that, unless indeed all tokens should prove 
fallacious, Chicago, also, in this branch of commerce, will soon have 
rendered all rivalry with her hopeless. Imports of the season 1853-4 
amounted to 115,680 head, or, 20,834,062 lbs., and in the season 
of 1854-5, to 136,515 head, or, 25,778,879 lbs. The prices in 
1854 and 1855, were as follows : 

1854. 1855. 

January (per 100 lbs) $3 25@4 00 $3 00@3 75 

February 4 25 4 50 3 50 3 88 

March 4 50 4 75 4 25 4 50 

November 3 00 3 50 6 75 7 00 

December 3 25 3 75 5 50 6 00 

Beef. — Chicago mess beef is being already preferred to all other 
beef, both in Europe and America. The condition of the cattle drhen 
34 



398 COMMERCE OF CHICAGO. 

to Chicago, in 1855, was very excellent, so that that season has sub- 
stantiated the fame of Chicago in this respect also. In 1854 there 
were slaughtered 23,691 oxen, weighing 13,402,223 lbs, and in 1855, 
28,972 oxen, weighing 16,032,138 lbs. We note the prices of 1854 
and 1855 : 

1854. 1855. 

September $6 00@6 50 $6 50@7 50 

October 5 50 6 25 5 50 6 25 

November 5 50 6 50 6 00 6 50 

December 4 50 6 00 6 50 7 00 

The lumber trade of Chicago ranks next in importance to her corn 
trade, being unsurpassed by that of any other market. In 1847, the 
importation of boards amounted to but 32,000,000 feet; in 1853, 
however, already over 300,000,000 feet. In 1854, the imports 
amounted to 228,326,783 feet of boards; 32,431,550 laths, and 
82,061,250 shingles; in 1855, to 306,553,467 feet of boards; 
46,487,550 laths, and 158,770,860 shingles. 

Woo?.— Imports in 1854,951,838 lbs. ; in 1855,1,369,039 lbs. 
Prices in 1854 and 1855, as follows : 

1854. 1855. 

June (per lb.) 20-30 20-34 

July.. 23-31 .'. 25-36 

August 20-30 25-38 

Lead. — Owing to the completion of the Galena and Illinois Cen- 
tral Railroads, imports had more than doubled in 1855 ; in 1854, 
they amounted to but 4,247,126, in 1855, however, to 9,965,950 lbs. 

Fire-wood and coal are among the dearest articles in Chicago. 
Owing, however, to the great wealth of the Ulinoisian coal beds, this 
condition of things cannot last long ; especially since several new coal 
mines will probably soon be opened, so that the prices of coal will 
quickly fall, which will again exercise an influence upon the price of 
fire-wood, to the same effect. Imports in 1854; 50,650 cords of 
wood, and 56,768 tons of coal; in 1855, 74,810 cords of wood, and 
110,075 tons of coal. 

Duties. — Duties paid at the custom-house for imported merchan- 
dise, amounted, in 1854, to $575,802 85 ; in 1855, to but $278,978 ; 
which fact points out the great developments which must have taken 
place in the industrial activity, and in the manufactures of Chicago. 



COMMERCE OF CHICAGO. 399 

These are also fully brought to light by the following statements, pub- 
lished by the " Democratic Press," and chiefly based upon figures 
given by the parties interested. Where these were wanting, reliable, 
competent judges were consulted, so that the estimate must be con- 
sidered as rather too low than too exaggerated. 

Capital. 

Ironworks, Machinery, &c 1,102,000 

Agricultural Implements 454,000 

Railroad Cars, &c. 750,000 

Brass, Tin, Copper Ware, &c 142,000 

Type, Printers' Furnishing-, &c, 15.000 

Carriages, Wagons, &c 417,000 

Lead Pipe, &c, (estimated) 20,000 

Planing Mills, Sash Factories, Shin- 
gle Mills, &c 374,000 

Cabinet Furniture, &c 800,000 

Marble and Stone 578,000 

Whiskey, Ale, Porter, Beer, &c 397,500 

Oils, Soap, Candles, &c 361,000 

Gas, Coke, &c 

Leather 150,000 

Brick 56,000 

Saddlery 52,000 

Musical Instruments 16,000 

Daguerreotypes, Photographs, &c... 43,500 

Jewelry, Silver Plating, &c 77,000 

Quick Lime 80,000 

Confections 24,000 

Stoves 80,000 

Wooden Ware, Brooms, &c... 90,000 

Blank Books, Book Binding, &c 26,500 

Barrels 30,000 

Glue 10,000 

Ship Building 50,000 

Hats, Caps, &c 17,000 

Mill Stones, 5,000 

Trunks 50,000 

Lithography, Engraving, &c 10,000 

Salaeratus 6,000 

Matches 5,000 



[ands. 


Value of 




Manufactures. 


,395 


1,926,500 


480 


649,790 


550 


950,000 


188 


377,200 


12 




792 


702,104 


75 


50,000 


396 


749,684 


530 


455,500 


676 


588,900 


180 


826,645 


104 


464,130 




126,442 


130 


290,000 


220 


260,000 


120 


142,000 


38 


45,000 


47 


70,000 


37 


80,100 


110 


96,000 


60 


80,000 


92 


195,000 


48 


120,000 


66 


124,000 


100 


105,000 


15 


4,072 


250 


300,000 


30 


40,000 


14 


23,418 


80 


180,000 


15 


20,000 


8 


18,000 


21 


18,000 



400 COMMERCE OF CHICAGO. 

Boots and Shoes, Clothing, Millinery, 
Tobacco, Crackers, Bread, Coffee 
and Spices, Surgical Instruments, 
etc 506,500 1,866 1,954,006 



$6,295,000 8,740 11,031,491 
For the year 4,220,000 5,000 7,870,000 



Consequently— increase during 1855... $2,075,000 3,740 $3,161,491 

With this we conclude our chapter on the commerce and manufac- 
tures of Chicago. When to her present age of twenty years, Chicago 
shall have added four new lustres, our readers, on reviewing the sta- 
tistics grow before them, will smile at the insignificance of the num- 
bers, however far beyond belief they may appear to them now. Chi- 
cago, indeed ; has a splendid and magnificent future. 



. LANDS AND THEIR PRICES. 

DtTRlNG the last few years there has been a steady advance in the 
price of lauds in Illinois, as well as throughout the United States 
generally ; in the former, they are, however, still offered at very 
different prices, and, with proper judgment and care, advantageous 
purchases may readily be made. 

Lands may be purchased, — 1. of the Federal Government; 2. of 
the Illinois Central Railroad; and, 3. of private proprietors. 

The quantity of public lands has been considerably diminished. 
According to the State Auditor's report there are only about 100,000 
acres in the market, and the greater part of these is situated in the 
eastern and southern part of the State. Their price is from 12 J cts. 
to 82.50 per acre, and purchasers must apply to the Land Office at 
Springfield, the only one still existing — those at Chicago, Dixon, 
Q.uincy, Palestine, Edwardsville, Shawneetown, and Kaskaskia, having 
been closed some time ago. 

The lands which were granted to the Illinois Central Railroad 
amount to about two millions and a half of acres, over 800,000 
acres of which were sold in the course of the last two years, thus 
leaving about 1,700,000 acres unsold; these are situated in a strip, 
thirty miles in breadth, lying along the said railroad, and afford a 
rich choice. In the next chapter, we will give fuller details concern- 
ing these lands, by the cultivation of which the population of the 
State is being greatly promoted. 

Private lands and fanns are also to be had in almost every part or 
county of the State, and deserve to be recommended to purchasers 
who wish to buy farms already under cultivation and well organized. 
The prices vary, according to the quality of the soil and the greater 
or less distance from the towns, rivers, and railroads. It being our 
object to give authentic accounts on this subject, we have classified 
the information obtained by us, as to the prices of private lands in 
34* 2a (401) 



402 LANDS AND THEIR PRICES. 

different districts of the State, in the order of the respective coun- 
ties, viz. : — 

In Cass county, land may be "bought at from $1 to $40 per acre. 
Land bought, some seven years ago, for from $6 to $10 per acre, is 
now worth from $25 to $30. Wild land costs from $5 to $15, and 
farms from $15 to $40 per acre. This county contains about 2000 
acres of swamp-land, which sells at from 50 cts to $2.25 per acre. 

In Du Page county there is but little wild-prairie land to be had. 
Farm-land is worth from $8 to $30 or $40 per acre; wood-land from 
$15 to $90 and $100. 

In La Salle county the prices are about the same as those men- 
tioned in the preceding county; and well-arranged farms can be 
bought at proportionate prices. 

In Lee county, land, which only four years ago was sold at from $5 
to $10, now sells at from $50 to $100 per acre. Mr. J. H. Cropsey 
of Dixon, three years ago, bought a large tract of land at $8 per acre, 
and, in December, 1855, sold it again for $25 per acre. 

In Livingston county, Mr. J. L. Miller, in February, 1855, bought 
212 acres, partly prairie-land and partly wood-land, at $12J per acre, 
which, ten months afterwards, he sold for $25 per acre. In Decem- 
ber, 1855, Judge Babcock sold a farm of 1436 acres, on which there 
were two groves, containing together 130 acres, with a dwelling-house 
and barn, for $30,000. He had bought these lands, successively, in 
smaller tracts, paying $10, $6 per acre, and for some not more than 
the government price. 

In Macoupin county farms are sold at from $10 to $30 per acre. 

In Marshall county, an acre of wild prairie-land, two or three miles 
distant from Henry or Bacon, sells at from $18 to $20, six miles dis- 
tant at $10, and fifteen miles distant at $5 per acre. Good wood- 
land on the bluff is worth from $15 to $25. The price of cultivated 
and improved farms, in the vicinity of the towns or at a distance of 
from three to four miles, is from $30 to $35, and six miles distant, 
from $20 to $25 per acre. In 1850, prairie-land two or three miles 
distant from Henry was sold at $6, that situated five or six miles off 
at $2|, and Congress-land nine or ten miles from Henry could be 
bought at $1J per acre. 

In MacLean county, land costs from $5 to $30 per acre. Land 



LANDS AND THEIR PRICES. 4J3 

for which $4 an acre was paid four years ago, now brings three times 
as much ; and for cultivated farms, which were then worth from $10 
to $15 per acre, from $25 to $35 are now paid. 

In Menard county, a farm, situated a few miles from Petersburg, 
and containing 250 acres, was sold, in December, 1855, for $7500. 

In Morgan county, a farm of 640 acres, near Jacksonville, was 
also sold for $32,000. 

In Peoria county, wild land is now worth from $15 to $20 per 
acre. 

In Putnam county, cultivated farms, for which from $12 to $20 
per acre were paid six years ago, are now sold at from $25 to $35. 
Wild prairie-land, formerly worth from $4 to $6, now brings from 
$10 to $15, and wood-land from $15 to $30 per acre. 

In Rock Island county, near the town of the same name, an acre 
fetches from $30 to $100; farther off, from $5 to $30. 

In St. Clair county, three or four miles from Belleville, cultivated 
land costs from $40 to $50 an acre, and at a distance of from ten to 
fifteen miles from the town, from $20 to $25. In the year 1855, a 
tract of land, situated two miles from Belleville, which, twelve years 
ago, had been bought at $15 an acre, was sold for $120 per acre. 
Wild prairie-land has here reached the following prices : in 1840, $3; 
in 1845, $5; in 1850, $10 j and in 1855, $20 to $25. 

In Sangamon county, land has doubled its price within the last 
three years. Wild land costs from $10 to $20 per acre; cultivated 
land, from $20 to $40. 

In Tazewell county, farms are sold at from $35 to $40 per acre. 
Land for which, five or six years ago, from $4 to $5 was paid, can- 
not be bought at present below $20 or $30 per acre. 

In Will county, wild prairie-land, which, four years ago, could be 
bought at Congress price, is now as high as $10; and farms worth $6 
per acre four years ago, now sell at from $20 to $25. 

In Winnebago county, as late as the year 1852, wild prairie-land 
could still be bought at the Congress price of $1.25, but from $12 to 
$25 per acre is now paid for it. 

In Woodford county, pretty good land cannot be bought below $10 
an acre; farms bring from $30 to $40, and wood-land from $15 to $20. 



404 LANDS AND THEIR PRICES. 

In the eastern part of the county, wild prairie-land can yet be bought 
at from $3 to $4 per acre. 

The above instances, taken from nineteen different counties of the 
State, -will be sufficient to enable the reader to form a tolerably correct 
idea of the price of land in general, while, at the same time, they 
show the relative rise in prices during the last few years, and with 
what reasonable prospects of gain capital may at present still be in- 
vested in the purchase of Illinois lands. The supposition, that prices 
have reached their culminating point, cannot be admitted ; for, setting 
aside every other consideration, Illinois has, by the construction of 
the Central railroad, made these immense uncultivated tracts in the 
heart of the State easily accessible to the cultivator; and along the 
whole extent of country intersected by the road, numerous towns 
have sprung into existence, where, but a short time ago, nothing 
except the flower-covered carpet of the prairie and the blue canopy 
of heaven was to be seen. 

We do not take too sanguine a view, in asserting that, in the year 
1860, we shall look back upon just such a period of great advance in 
the price of lands, as we now do when looking back to the year 1850. 
At that time, who would have ventured to anticipate the enormous 
rise in real estate that is now actually exhibited ? 

Any one who may prefer to hire land or a farm, rather than to 
acquire the ownership of it, will find good chances to do so in almost 
all the counties. The rents, with some few exceptions, are nearly as 
follows : — 

1. For the use of cultivated land, from $1^ to $2 per acre. 

3. If the tenant, besides the land, also receives from his landlord 
a house, &c, the rent amounts to $3 per acre; or, 

3. The tenant gives all the work, seeds, &c, and furnishes the 
working-cattle, and then gives one-third of the returns or crops to 
the owner of the land ; or, finally, 

4. The tenant furnishes the work, and in return obtains a dwelling- 
place, working-cattle, agricultural implements, seed, &c. ; and then 
the owner is entitled to one-half of the crops. 

We cannot conclude this chapter without mentioning an extra- 
ordinary instance of the rapid increase in the value of real estate. 



LANDS AND THEIR PRICES. 405 

In the year 1848, Mr. William Green, of Chicago, bought a tract 
of land containing 200 acres, for which he paid 8100 per acre, 
making a sum total of $20,000. Of this tract he has already sold, as 
follows : — 

In 1855, a plot, for $40,000 

« « " "..... 10,000 

" " « « 50,000 

" 1856, 150 acres, for . . . 600,000 
and he has lots left, with a front of 1700 feet, 
worth $100 per foot, amounting to ... . 170,000 



Total, $870,000 
Thus, within eight years, he made, with a capital of $20,000, a profit 
of $860 000 ! Where else, in another country, can such a result 
be even approximated to ? 



THE LANDS OF THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL 
RAILROAD COMPANY. 



On the 20th of September, 1850, the Congress of the United States 
passed a law by which two millions five hundred and ninety-five 
thousand acres of the public lands were granted to the State of Illi- 
nois for railroad purposes; and on the 10th of February, 1851, the 
Illinois Central Railroad Company was incorporated by an act of the 
Legislature of the State of Illinois, and the whole of the immense 
tract of land before-mentioned was granted to the company, to aid in 
the construction of the railroad projected by it. 

By this grant of lands, and the consequent construction of the rail- 
road, that new era has been opened for Illinois, which manifests itself 
in the unparalleled growth of its population and in its great wealth. 
This road intersects the entire State from north to south : running, 
first in two branches, viz., from Chicago to Centralia, and from Dun- 
leith to Centralia ; and then, in but one branch from Centralia to 
Cairo. The great prairies of Central Illinois, so particularly distin- 
guished for the rich fertility of their soil, but hitherto lying entirely 
uncultivated and almost wholly excluded from the markets by the 
want of means of communication, have thus been rendered accessible 
to cultivation. 

However speculative the construction of a railroad seven hundred 
and four miles in length, and through a territory almost entirely un- 
cultivated, may at first have appeared, the excellence of the great 
undertaking is fully demonstrated by the immense advantages already 
derived from it. Not only is it true that the Central Railroad Com- 
pany is doing a splendid business, and that the bonds issued by it are 
commanding pretty high rates, as compared with other railroad bonds, 
but it is also a fact, that by the construction of this road, those vast 

(406) 



LANDS OF THE CENTRAL RAILROAD. 407 

and desert prairie-lands have been transformed into well-cultivated 
farms, which are now annually contributing many millions of bushels 
of excellent grain to the general produce of the State, and still present 
the prospect of much larger crops in future ; and, moreover, the popu- 
lation of the State has been increased by the addition of thousands 
of industrious and enterprising citizens, who are mostly farmers. The 
State of Illinois has thus came to be ranked among the most import- 
ant States of the Union. 

The lands of the company extend themselves on both sides of the 
road, in a breadth of thirty miles, so that it mostly runs through the 
middle of them. The greater part of these lands are well-watered 
and intersected by creeks, and where such are wanting, good water 
may be obtained by digging to the depth of a few feet below the 
surface. 

A kind of loam, well suited for the manufacture of bricks, is fre- 
quently found near the surface ; and bituminous coal, which, as has 
been already mentioned, underlies almost the entire State of Illinois, 
is found at several points of the railroad, furnishing a very excellent 
and cheap fuel. The soil, to a depth of about five feet, is of a rich 
black substance, with a surface partly undulating or rolling, and partly 
level, and well adapted to all the various branches of agriculture and 
cattle-breeding. In some p£rts, there is a fine growth of oak and 
other trees. 

Besides all the above advantages, the farmers who settle on these 
lands have still another great benefit, in their immediate, or at least 
very near, connexion with the State's mighty artery of intercommu- 
nication, by which they are enabled, without the slightest difficulty, 
to forward their products to the markets, and there to realize good 
prices for them. 

Of the 2,595,000 acres which were granted to the Illinois 
Central Kailroad Company, 528,863.11 acres were sold, in the 
short space of seventeen months, namely, from August, 1854, 
up to the 31st day of December, 1855, and brought the sum of 
85,598,577.83. 

Since the 1st of January, 1856, there have been sold, in each 
month respectively, as follows : — 



i 



408 LANDS OF THE CENTRAL RAILROAD. 



In January 11,481.36 acres 

February 4,959.04 

March 26,880.14 

April 12,853.22 

May 18,328.45 

June 15,529.56 

July 19,509.97 

August 27,288.88 

September 43,018.35 

October 56,421. 7S 

November 54,004.76 



for $175,057.46 

75,509.09 

327,331.54 

211,442.17 

293,360.96 

241,291.96 

, 301,066.16 

381,744.09 

662,014.23 

906,800.58 

859,290.47 



So that on the 1st of December, 1856, 819,138.60 acres were already 
sold for $10,033,486.54; leaving only 1,775,861.40 for future 
purchasers. 

These extraordinarily rapid sales, — this unexampled sudden 
transformation of such a large territory, hitherto lying in a wild and 
uncultivated state, into luxuriant cornfields, inviting farms and fruit- 
ful orchards, must not be attributed solely to the location and fer- 
tility of the land, but also, in as great a measure, to the unequalled 
and ready facilities that are afforded to the owner and cultivator by 
the Illinois Central Railroad Company. The same advantages are 
still offered, and persons, even with limited means, may yet acquire 
valuable property, and thus come to enjoy wealth and independence 
within a comparatively short time. 

Influenced by these reasons, hundreds of people are weekly coming 
from the Eastern States to Chicago, because they have become dis- 
couraged with the hard and unenriching labour bestowed on eastern 
land, and now choose rather to apply their energies and industry to 
the productive virgin soil of Illinois. In the morning, long before 
the hour of opening, the doors of the Illinois Central Railroad Com- 
pany's Land Office, at Chicago, are thronged with people ; and when 
opened, the office is soon densely filled with eager purchasers. It is 
not a trifling business of everyday life, such as a stranger to these 
scenes might suppose, that is here daily transacted, but lands to the 
value of hundreds of thousands of dollars in their monthly aggregate 
are disposed of. 

The settlement of these lands, which has been accelerated as if by 
a stroke of magic, is made on the following conditions : — The Com- 



LANDS OF THE CENTRAL RAILROAD. 409 

pany requires no payment of purchase-money during the first two 
years from the day of purchase ; and further, a long credit is given 
to the purchaser, while the interest on the purchase-money does 
not exceed three per cent, per annum. 

The prices vary from $5 to $25 per acre, according to the quality 
and location of the lands, — whether they lie next to, or more dis- 
tant from, the railroad, towns, or town-sites. 

The first instalment of the purchase-money, being one-fifth, becomes 
due at the expiration of two years from the time when the contract 
was made; another fifth at the close of each subsequent year, with 
three per cent, interest: so that the last instalment will become due 
at the end of six years. 

The interest for each ensuing year is paid in advance, upon making 
the first, second, third, and fourth payments. The interest for the 
first two years is to be paid upon making the contract. 

The purchaser is obligated to cultivate at least one-tenth of his 
land every year ; and upon making the last payment of instalments 
he will be entitled to a deed in fee simple. 

Purchasers who are willing to pay six per cent, interest may enjoy 
a longer credit. An allowance or deduction of twenty per cent will 
be made on cash-payments ) and the construction-bonds of the com- 
pany will be taken, and considered as equivalent to cash. 

Now, let us suppose a purchase of 80 acres, at $10 per acre, to be 
made on the 1st of May, 1857, the payments on the same would 
then run as follows : — 

May 1, 1857. Received contract for a deed for 80 acres of land, 
at $10 per acre ($800), and paid two year's in- 
terest, at 3 per cent, per annum, in advance, $48 00 
" 1859. Paid first instalment of principal, being one-fifth. 
of $800, $160 00 

One year's interest, in advance, on bal- 
ance due ($640), at 3 per cent. 19 20 



1860. Paid second instalment, being one-fifth, 

as above, 160 00 

One year's interest, in advance, on bal- 
ance due ($480), as above, 14 40 



179 20 



174 40 



35 



Carried over, $401 60 



410 LANDS OF THE CENTRAL RAILROAD. 

Brought over, $401 60 

May 1, 1861. Paid third instalment, being one-fifth, 

as above, $160 00 

One year's interest, in advance, on bal- 
ance due ($20), as above, 9 60 



1862. Paid fourth instalment, being one-fifth, 

as above, 160 00 

One year's interest, in advance, on bal- 
ance due ($160), as above, 4 80 



169 60 



164 80 



" 1868. Paid fifth instalment, being one-fifth, as above, 

and received deed, 160 00 

Making the full payment, principal and interest, $896 00 

If the purchaser of these 80 acres brings only 20 of them into cul- 
tivation each year, by raising Indian corn on the one half and wheat 
on the other, according to the average yield, as stated on page 291, 
viz., 56 bushels of Indian corn, and 24 bushels of wheat, per acre, 
the average price of the former, as mentioned on page 292, being 
33 cents per bushel, and that of the latter $1.27 per bushel, his 
yearly returns will be as follows : — 
In the first year — 



560 bushels of Indian corn, 


$184 80 


240 " wheat, 


304 80 


In the second year — 




1120 bushels of Indian corn, 


369 60 


480 " wheat, 


609 60 

979 °0 


In the third year — 




1680 bushels of Indian corn, 


554 40 


720 " wheat, 
In the fourth year — 


914 40 

1468 80 


2240 bushels of Indian corn, 


739 20 


960 " wheat, 


1219 20 







Hence, in the first four years $4896 00 

From the sum thus obtained, deduct the entire purchase-money, 
amounting to $896, with interest included, and there will remain 
an average annual income of $1000 to be used for alimony and the 



LANDS OF THE CENTRAL RAILROAD. 411 

defraying of farming expenditures, which will be found more than 
sufficient to cover such expenses. The farmer will, then, not only 
be free from debts, and possess an unencumbered farm of 80 acres, 
but the value of his farm will in the mean time have increased to 
two or threefold its original cost. 

Considering the ease with which prairie-soil can be put under cul- 
tivation, it is hardly probable that an enterprising farmer will be 
satisfied with making only 20 acres arable in each year. As stated 
on page 317, one man, with a team of horses, can farm about 40 acres, 
needing hired help only in harvest time ; and hence we may suppose 
that the owner of 80 acres will make them all arable within two years, 
or 40 acres in each year, and in this case his returns will be as 
follows : — 

In the first year — 



1120 bushels of Indian corn, 


$369 60 


480 " wheat, 


609 60 

f 079 °0 


In the second year — 

2240 bushels of Indian corn, 
960 " wheat, 


739 20 
1219 20 




1958 40 



Hence, in the first two years, , $2937 60 

And he will thus, at the expiration of such a very short term, be 
enabled to hold his property entirely free from debt. 

These figures, although they are merely assumed as an approxima- 
tion to what may be realized, nevertheless furnish an irrefutable 
proof that the credit system, as established by the Illinois Central 
Railroad Company, affords the greatest and most favourable facilities 
to persons, even of very limited means, to become possessed of valu- 
able real estate, independence, and wealth. 

While on this subject, let us regard the testimony of one who, in 
the year 1853; himself purchased, from the Illinois Central Railroad 
Company, forty acres of land, situate in the neighborhood of Blooming- 
ton, and who therefore speaks from his own experience. In a letter 
to Mr. Chas. M. Du Puy, Sir. John Lindley says : — 



412 LANDS OF THE CENTRAL RAILROAD. 

Dear Sir: — 

Having seen a publication, made by you, in relation to the value and pro- 
ductiveness of the lands belonging to the Illinois Central Railroad Company, 
I take the liberty to make the following statement of my own experience in 
the premises. 

In August, 1853, I purchased of said company the N. W. quarter of the 
S. W. quarter of section 32, township 23, north of range 2, east, containing 
40 acres of prairie-land, six miles from Bloomington, in the county of McLean, 
and State of Illinois. 

I broke up the 40 acres of land, and put it all in fall wheat ; and from my 
first crop, which I harvested in July, 1854, I raised, on the 40 acres, eleven 
hundred and ten bushels of first quality white Genesee wheat, which I dis- 
posed of as follows: — 

1st. Isold, to different individuals, 100 bushels, at $1.25 $125 00 

2d. I sold Brown & Mayers 300 bushels, at $1.25 375 00 

3d. I sold to Brown & Mayers 600 bushels, delivered at Blooming- 
ton, at $1.50 , 900 00 

110 bushels I kept for my own use, say 165 00 

Showing the aggregate value and receipts to be $1565 00 

as the production of 40 acres of land for one season, and that being the first 
crop raised on said land, — being what is known as fall wheat — crop sown 
upon the sod, after the first breaking up and turning over of the prairie. 

My whole expense of producing the same was : — 

Fencing, say. $200 00 

Breaking 40 acres of land . 100 00 

Wheat for seeding $50, sowing the same $15 65 00 

Harvesting, say 75 00 

Threshing, say , 60 00 

$500 00 

Leaving a net profit, on 40 acres, of $1065. 

And now, as the 40 acres of land are fenced and broke up, and in fine 
condition for cultivation, I can readily sell the land at $25 per acre, cash ; 
but I should decline selling if offered thirty dollars per acre. 

I make the aforesaid statement for the information of all persons who con- 
template coming to this State, that they may know the agricultural advan- 
tages of Illinois. 

No one having an intention to settle in Illinois, and whose means 
are not very great, should neglect to examine the lands of the Illinois 
Central Railroad Company, before makiug a purchase in any other 
quarter. There is much advantage in the method of paying the 



LANDS OF THE CENTRAL RAILROAD. 413 

purchase-money by instalments, bearing an interest of only three per 
cent, per annum. On this account, not only settlers from the Eastern 
States, but even Illinois farmers, heretofore living in other parts of 
this State, are settling on the lands of the Company, and here 
providing new homes for themselves. 

These lands become liable to taxation only at the time when the 
last instalment is paid, and after the purchaser has received his 
deed. 

A service may be rendered to those who intend to settle on these 
lands, by giving a description of them, in their whole extent along the 
line of the railroad, with particular regard to the qualities of the soil. 
We will, therefore, commence by following the route of the Chicago 
Branch-road to Centralia, and thence along the main line from Cairo 
up to Dunleith. 

Calumet, Thornton, Richton. — Land level and rich. By ditching, 

it may be made well adapted to grazing, and supply Chicago with 

milk, vegetables, and hogs. 
Monee, Manteno. — 'Splendid rolling-prairie ; rich, deep, black soil. 

Extremely valuable, owing to its vicinity to the Chicago market. 

A sulphur spring in township 32, range 10, east. 
Bourbonnais, Kanhakee, Chebanse. — Beautiful prairie-country ; well 

watered and timbered. / 

Ashhum, Onarga. — Rich, gently rolling prairie ; well adapted to 

grazing. Streams fringed with ash, oak, elm, &c. Fine living 

springs pouring into the Iroquois river. 
Loda. — Beautiful rolling-prairie, thinly interspersed with timber. 

Well adapted to grazing and tillage. Watered by a number of 

streams. 

Pera. — Land high and rolling; watered by the Big "Vermillion and 
Sangamon rivers. 

Rantoul. — Vast prairie ; highly adapted to grazing and raising 
stock. / 

Urbana, Pesotum. — Fertile in the highest degree, and well wooded. 
The Great Western Railroad crosses south of Urbana, and brings 
coal from the Danville coal-fields. 
35* 



414 LANDS OF THE CENTRAL RAILROAD. 

Ohaio. — Rich rolling-prairie. The Indiana and Illinois Railroad 

passes north of Okaw. Country well watered by the Kankaskia 

and its branches. Streams fringed with timber. 
Arno. — Prairie and wood-land ; rich, fertile, and well watered. 

The Terrehaute and Alton Railroad intersects south of Arno. 
Nioga, Effingham. — Rolling, rich prairie ; well supplied with 

streams and fine groves of timber. Excellent farming country. 

The National road passes through Effingharn. 
Edgewood. — Timbered with oak, hickory, &c. ; interspersed with 

almost the same quantity of prairie. 
Farina, Tonti. — Fine, open prairie, and interspersed with groves 

of timber. 
Cairo, Villa Ridge. — Cairo is the southern terminus of the road, 

and is situated at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. 

Country back heavily timbered with poplar, oak, cotton-wood, gum, 

elm, cypress, &c. 
Vllin, Jonesboro'. — High, rolling land, heavily timbered with beach 

and cotton-wood. Wheat, of a very superior quality, ripens in 

May. Iron ore is found near Jonesboro'. 
Macanda, Carhondale. — A fine, timbered country, covered with 

gum, poplar, sugar-tree, mulberry, oak, and ash; watered by the 

Big Muddy river, &c. Coal is found in this region. Tobacco 

is also cultivated here. 
Be Soto, Du Quoin. — The centre of the coal region. At Du Quoin 

it is mined thirty feet from the surface. Fine, open prairie, inter- 
spersed with walnut, oak, sugar-tree, &c. Excellent farming 

lands. 
Tamaroa. — Northern limit of the coal-field. About an equal 

quantity of timber and prairie; watered by the Big Muddy 

river, &c. 
Ashley, Ricliview, Centralia. — Gently-rolling prairie, well watered. 

Proceeding north, prairie more rolling, and interspersed with groves 

of oak, ash, &c. 
Sandoval, Patoka. — Country well watered, and interspersed with 

timber. The Ohio and Mississippi Railroad crosses at Sandoval. 



LANDS OF THE CENTRAL RAILROAD. 415 

Vandalia. — Well watered. Climate mild; winters short. Cattle 
thrive on the prairie for nine or ten months in the year. 

Ramsey, Oconee. — Level and rolling prairie, interspersed with tim- 
ber, and well watered. The Terrehaute and Alton Railroad passes 
through this section. 

Pana, TacusaJi. — Fine prairie ; streams fringed with timber. The 
Terrehaute and Alton Railroad intersects at Pana. 

Moawequa, Macon, Decatur. — Rich prairie, well timbered, and 
watered by the Sangamon river, &e. The Great Western and the 
Indiana Central Railroad intersect at Decatur. 

Maroa. — Gently-rolling, rich prairie, well watered. Streams fringed 
with hickory, elm, walnut, and pawpaw. 

Clinton, Wapellah, Elmwood. — Rolling, rich prairie, with groves of 
timber, watered by Sugar creek and the Kickapoo. 

Bloomington, Hudson. — A beautiful, fertile, and rolling farming- 
country, well watered, and supplied with timber. Highly adapted 
for settlement. 

Kappa, Panola, Minonh. — Rich, rolling prairie. Timber in groves 
and on creeks. Watered by Panther creek, &c. The Peoria and 
Oquawka Railroad passes south of Panola. 

Wenona. — Level and rolling prairie, interspersed with timber, and 
well watered. Deep and rich soil. The Fort Wayne and Lacon 
Railroad intersects at Wenona. 

Tonica, La Salle, Horner. — The great belt of coal, passing through 
the centre of the State, is found extensively at La Salle, and ranges 
a long distance east and west. Junction of the Illinois Central 
and Rock Island railroads; also, intersection of the Illinois and 
Michigan canal. 

Mendota, Souhlette, Amhoy. — In Mendota, the junction of the Illi- 
nois Central, Military Tract and Aurora Branch railroads. High, 
rolling land, occasionally interspersed with timber. Good water- 
power. 

Dixon. — Country well settled throughout. Excellent agricultural 
land, well watered by Rock river, &c. The Galena and Chicago 
Air Line Railroad intersects at Dixon. 



416 LANDS OF THE CENTRAL RAILROAD. • 

Foreston. — High, dry, and upland prairie, well timbered and well 

watered. 
Freeport, Elleroy, Lena, Nora. — Magnificent farming-country, well 

watered. The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad intersects at 

Freeport. 
Warren , Scales Mound, Council Hill, Galena, Dunleitli. — A rapidly 

growing country. Fine agricultural soil throughout the section. 

Galena is the centre of the lead region. Dunleith is the northern 

terminus of the road. 

Through the above brief description, the reader may become some- 
what acquainted with the general character of the country traversed by 
the Illinois Central Railroad, as well as with the peculiar qualities of 
the various sections of land brought into market by the Company. 
It remains still to be mentioned, as a striking proof of the extra- 
ordinary progress already made in the development and cultivation 
of these lands, that, in the year 1856, in the neighbourhood of Ur- 
bana alone, within a circuit of fifteen miles, about 20,000 acres were 
tilled and sown with wheat; which more than doubles the quantity of 
all the land together that had been previously broken up and culti- 
vated in this region. It is further supposed, that, from the crop of 
1856 alone, between 300,000 and 400,000 bushels of wheat will be 
sent only to the market atUrbana. From this we can form some idea of 
the rapid increase in the quantity of tilled lands throughout the whole 
of this rich and fertile country. 

Lastly, the following table, which is constructed from data collected 
in January, 1856, shows the rapid growth and great strides towards 
municipal importance of the numerous towns and villages already 
founded in this bountiful territory, and which lie dotted along the 
line of the railroad and its branches, in the whole of the long distance 
between the beginning and the end. In fact, many of these places 
have during the last year doubled the number of their inhabitants ; 
and, therefore, although these data have been so lately and carefully 
collected, they will enable the close examiner to form merely a rea- 
sonable conjecture of what is the present state of things. 



LANDS OF THE CENTRAL RAILROAD. 



417 



Table showing the number of inhabitants, houses, churches, §c, of the towns on 
the route of the Illinois Central Railroad, in 1850 and January, 1856. 



Name. 



Amboy 

Apple River......... 

Ashley 

Bloomington 

Cairo 

Calumet Settlement 

Carbonclale 

Centralia 

Chebanse 

Clinton 

Council Hill 

Decatur ,. 

De Soto 

Dixon.. 

Dunleith 

Du Quoin 

Elleroy 

Foreston 

Freeport , 

Hudson 

Jonesboro' 

Kankakee 

Kappa 

La Salle 

Lena 

Loda 

Macon 

Makanda .. 

Manteno 

Mattoon 

Mendota 

Minonk 

Moawequa 

Monee 

Nora 

Oconee 

Onarga 

Pana... 

Panola... 

Polo 

Pulaski 

Rickview 



1850 

1854 

1854 

1832 

1836 

1838 

1853 

1854 

1854 

1845 

1828 

1829 

1854 

1839 

1853 

1853 

1850 

1855 

1838 

1836 

1818 

1852 

1853 

1839 

185 

185 

1854 

1854 

1854 

1855 

1853 

1854 

1853 

1850 

1852 

1854 

1854 

1855 

1853 

1854 

1854 

1840 



Inhabitants 



in 

1850. 



in 

Jan'ry 
1856. 



16 



22Q0 
300 

50 



760 
300 
600 



540 

5 



18 



1400 

25 

584 



200 
5 



145 



1329 
140 
150 

5500 

1300 

150 

350 

600 

25 

1500 
400 

2200 
500 

3200 

700 

125 

225 

90 

5000 
103 
803 

2400 
150 

§500 
350 
100 
28 
14 
175 
150 

1800 
70 
300 
800 
300 
70 
100 
250 
150 
550 
100 
525 



Houses 



in 

1850. 



in 
Jan'ry 

1856. 



400 

15 
12 



300 

75 

175 



notk. 



200 

6 

113 



2fJ 



13 



300 

30 

60 

1540 

150 

40 

90 

60 

5 

500 

100 

600 

70 

notk 

175 
20 
42 
13 
1000 
21 

162 

400 
35 

800 
65 
10 
3 
1 
22 
40 

200 
15 
40 

200 
60 
10 
26 
32 
15 

130 
13 

120 



2 


1 


1 


1 


. 3 


1 


2 




3 


1 


1 


1 


2 




2 


o 


1 


3 



14 



2b 



418 



LANDS OF THE CENTRAL RAILROAD. 



Table showing the number of inhabitants, houses, churches, fyc, of the towns on the 
route of the Illinois Central Railroad, in 1850 and Jan., 1856. — Continued. 



Name. 


1 

to 

a 


IjVHAB] 

in 

1850. 


TANTS 

in 

Jan'ry 

1856. 


Hoi 

in 

1850. 


rsES 

in 

Jan'ry 
1856. 





H 

O 


02 

a 

1 




,g 


O 
02 





1 

u 





02 


o3 

1 




1854 
1850 
1855 
1855 
1854 
1853 
1850 
1854 
1835 
1854 
1820 
1853 
1850 
1853 
1855 


""n 

"I 
"506 
"360 

"'25 


120 

256 

185 

40 

48 

120 

180 

110 

1145 

416 

1000 

275 

350 

80 

54 


""2 

""l 

notk. 

notk. 

60 

"■4 


20 
35 
38 
5 
14 
21 
41 
10 

notk. 

notk. 

125 

35 

155 

15 

12 


"2 

2 

"i 

"2 
2 
4 

"2 
1 


"2 

2 

"i 

"2 
1 
1 

"2 

1 


3 
4 
3 

"3 
3 
3 

22 

10 

9 

5 

10 
3 
1 


2 
1 
1 

"i 

1 
1 
1 
4 

2 
4 
1 

2 

1 


i 

1 
5 

2 

1 

"i 

"1 


"3 
"3 


Scales Mound 






Thornton 




Ullin 




Urbana(West) 




Warren , 







BANKS 



The banking system of Illinois is regulated by two acts of the 
Legislature, passed respectively on the 15th of February, 1851, and 
on the 10th of February, 1853. 

The following are the principal enactments and provisions of these 
several laws ; — 

No bank shall be organized with a less capital than $50,000 ; and 
stocks to be deposited to secure the circulation, &c. The amount of 
circulation shall in no case exceed the capital stock set forth in the 
certificate of incorporation ; but the deposit of stock securities and 
the circulation may be increased from time to time, until they equal 
the maximum of the certified capital stock. 

Bank charters shall not be granted for a longer period than 
twenty-five years. 

All notes issued by the banks must be payable on demand, at the 
respective places where the banks are located, and be countersigned, 
numbered, and recorded by the register. 

No bank shall be authorized to put into circulation a larger amount 
of notes than the amount of stocks deposited as security with the 
State auditor. 

The stock thus deposited is intended, in the first place, for the re- 
demption of the notes in circulation, provided the bank itself should 
fail to redeem them ; and in the next place, they are made to sub- 
serve the purpose of liquidating all the liabilities of any bank thus 
failing. Each stockholder is also made individually liable in propor- 
tion to the full amount of capital stock owned by him. 

If any bank shall refuse or neglect to redeem any one of its notes, 
and such fact be properly certified by an ordinary protest, drawn up 
and acknowleged by any notary public, it shall be the duty of the 

(419) 



420 BANKS. 

auditor of the State, as soon as lie shall be informed of the fact, to 
take immediate measures against such bank. 

It is the duty of the commissioners of banks to examine into their 
condition once in every year. 

Every bank shall, at the end of each quarter, make a full statement 
of its funds and business transactions to the State auditor. 

In writing this book, we have been guided, as far as possible, 
by the principle of pointing out facts merely, and hence we have 
generally refrained from expressing our own bare opinions. How- 
ever, although we do not now intend to go into a particular criticism 
of the banking laws of Illinois, we cannot forbear from remarking, 
that, in our opinion, a general alteration and amendment of them is 
necessary to preserve the people of the State from the great inconver 
niences which otherwise must sooner or later arise under the present 
law. 

According to a statement published by the State auditor, on the 
10th of January, 1856, (Congressional Documents, on Banks in 1855, 
pages 176 and 177,) there were, at that time, forty-five banks in the 
State of Illinois, having, altogether, stock securities deposited to the 
amount of $4,134,879.62, while their note circulation reached only 
$3,514,911 — showing an excess of $619,968.62, in deposits, over 
the amount of notes in circulation. 

At the present time, (December, 1856,) there are fifty-two banks 
in the State, — : nine of which, however, are about to wind up their 
business. 

We here give the names, location, &c, of those fifty-two banks, 
together with their respective capitals, as shown in the statement 
above mentioned, the amount of capital stock actually paid in, and 
the amount of stock securities deposited, with the circulation based 
thereon ; and, also, the maximum capital authorized by their several 
charters, as it is set down in the Banker's Almanac for the year 
1856: — 

Alton Bank — Alton. 

E. Marsh, President ; Chas. A. Caldwell, Cashier. 
Charter, $100,000 Stocks deposited, $61,581.32 

Capital Stock paid in, 59,845.21 Circulation, 51,819 



BANKS. 421 

Agricultural Bank — Marion. 

S. B. Wheelock, President ; R. M. Herndly, Cashier. 

American Exchange Bank — Raleigh. 

W. H. Parish, President; C. H. Miner, Cashier. 

Bank of America — Chicago. 

G. Smith President; E. W. Willard, Cashier. 
^Charter, $1,000,000 Stocks deposited, $89,000 

Capital Stock paid in, 50,000 Circulation, 50 000 

Bank of Aurora. — Aurora. 

M. V. Hall, President; B. F. Hall, Cashier. 

Bank of Belleville. — Belleville. 

E. Miltenberger, President; S. E. Mandelbaum, Cashier. 

Charter, $100,000 Stocks deposited, $65,000 

Capital Stock, paid in, 56,990 Circulation, 56,990 

Bank of the Commonwealth. — Robinson. 

I. N. Wkipply, President; I. H. Low, Cashier. 

Bank of Elgin. — Elgin. 

A. J. Waldron, President; J, J. Town, Cashier. 

Stocks deposited, $200,000 
Capital Stock paid in, $100,000 Circulation, 94,380 

Bank of Galena. — Galena. 

Henry Corwith, President ; C. C. P. Hunt, Cashier. 
Charter, $100,000 Stocks deposited, $104,814.75 

Capital Stock paid in, 57,000 Circulation, 73,668 

Bank of Huisonville. — Hutsonville. 

Stocks deposited, $100,000 
Capital Stock paid in, $90,950 Circulation, 90,950 

Bank of Illinois. — New Haven. 

G. C. Smith, President; P. C. Briggs, Cashier. 

Bank of Naperville. — Naperville. 

W. Scott, President; A. Keith, Cashier. 
Charter, $100,000 Stocks deposited, $55,000 

Capital Stock paid in, 50,000 Circulation, 52,780 

Bank of Northern Illinois. — Waukegan. 

C. D. Bickford, President; Chas. R. Steele, Cashier. 
Charter, $100,000 Stocks deposited, $53,000 

Capital Stock paid in, 50,000 Circulation, 50,000 

* According to Monroe's Bank Note List, $200,000. 

36 



422 BANKS. 

Bank of Ottawa. — Ottawa. [Closing.) 

B. C. Cook, President ; Gr. S. Fisher, Cashier. 
Charter, $150,000 Stocks deposited, $25,000 

Capital Stock paid in, 20,654.70 Circulation, 20,500 

Bank of Peru. — Peru. 

Charter, $100,000 Stocks deposited, $55,000 

Capital Stock paid in, 88,500 Circulation, 50,002 

Bank of Pike County. — Griggsville. 

Thos. I. Ludus, President; R, M. K. Ludlow, Cashier. 

Bank of Quincy. — Quincy. 

Jno. McGinnes, President; M. Boon, Cashier. 

Bank of Raleigh. — Kaleigh. 

Wm. Stadden, President ; R. C. Spain, Cashier. 

Bank of the Republic. — McLeansboro. 

J. Rockwell, President ; C. H. Rockwell, Cashier. 

Bank of Southern Illinois. — Bolton. 

E. K. Willard, President ; W. L. Joiner, Cashier. 

Stocks deposited, $75,000 
Capital Stock paid in, $75,000 Circulation, 68,550 

Belvidere Bank. — Belvidere. ( Closing. ) 

A. Neely, President; Chas. Neely, Cashier. 
^Charter, $100,000 Stocks deposited, $31,000 

Capital Stock paid in, 80,000 Circulation, 29,397 

Central Bank. — Peoria. 

E. B. Elwood, President ; S. Matteson, Cashier. 
Charter, $200,000 Stocks deposited, $50,500 

Capital Stock paid in, 50,500 Circulation, 47,975 

Chicago Bank. — Chicago. 

Thos. Burch, President ; I. H. Burch, Cashier. 
Charter, $100,000 Stocks deposited, $119,328.25 

Capital Stock paid in, 59,501.29 Circulation, 50,014 

Clark's Exchange Bank. — Springfield. (Closing.) 

N. H. Ridgely, President; Chas. Ridgely, Cashier. 
^Charter, $200,000 Stocks deposited, $21,056.41 

Capital Stock paid in, 10,107.07 Circulation, 10,000 

* According to Monroe. 



BANKS. 423 

Commercial Bank. — Chicago. [Closing.) 

I. Cook. President ; A. Gilbert, Cashier. 

Stocks deposited, $27,000 
Capital Stock paid in, $52,000 Circulation, 25,005 

Corn Exchange Bank. — Fairfield. 

Stocks deposited, $60,000 
Capital Stock paid in, $50,000 Circulation, 52,300 

JDu Page County Bank. — Naperville. (Closing.) 

W. Scott, President ; A. Keith, Cashier. 

Stocks deposited, $5000 
Circulation, 4470 

Edgar County Bank. — Paris. 

H. Sanford, President; Gr. E. Loving, Cashier. 

Exchange Bank of H. A. Tucker §■ Co. — Chicago. (Closing.) 
H. A. Tucker, President ; H. B. Dox, Cashier. 

Circulation, $1186 

(Has returned, as required by law, the amount of notes in circulation, 
and withdrawn its stocks.) 

Farmers and Traders Bank. — Charleston. 

W. H. Murstin, President; Thos. A. Marshall, Cashier. 

Stocks deposited, $157,500 
Capital Stock paid in, $150,000 Circulation, 149,735 

Grand Prairie Bank. — Urbana. 

W. N. Coler, President ; T. S. Hubbard, Cashier. 
Charter, $100,000 

Grayville Bank. — Grayville. 

E. Chasy, President ; L. B. Clark, Cashier. 

Stocks deposited, $458,297.86 
Capital Stock paid in, $331,698.91 Circulation, 331,696 

Hamilton County Bank. — McLeansboro. 

Stocks deposited, $110,000 
Capital Stock paid in, $110,000 Circulation, 101,870 

Lafayette Bank. — Bloomington. 

W. H. Cord, President; J. L. Stockton, Cashier. 

Marine Bank of Chicago. — Chicago. 

J. Y. Scammon, President ; B. T. Carver, Cashier. 
Charter, $550,000 Stocks deposited, $198,767.15 

Capital Stock paid in, 150,000 Circulation, 100,705 



424 BANKS. 

McLean County Bank. — Bloomington. 

C. A. Gridley, President; T. Pardee, Cashier. 
Charter, $100,000 Stocks deposited, $68,000 

Capital Stock paid in, 65,000 Circulation, 64,998 

Merchants and Drovers Bank. — Joliet. 

Wm. Smith, President; K. E. Goodell, Cashier. 
Charter, $250,000 Stocks deposited, $191,346.92 

Capital Stock paid in, 189,638 Circulation, 178,331 

Merchants and Mechanics Bank. — Chicago. (Closing.) 
James H. Woodworth, President. 
^Charter, $100,000 Stocks deposited, $6000 

Capital Stock paid in, 85,500 Circulation, 5561 

Mississippi River Bank. — Oxford, 

C. C. Merriam, President; W. H. Merriam, Cashier. 

Morgan County Bank. — Jacksonville. 

H. R. Reed, President ; W. W. Wright, Cashier. 
^Charter, $50,000 

National Bank. — ■ Equality. 

E. J. Humphrey, President; W. H. Crawford, Cashier. 

Stocks deposited, $80,000 
Capital Stock paid in, $80,000 Circulation, 74,376 

Peoples Bank. — Carmi. 

S. Vorhies, President; E. Dodge, Cashier. 

Stocks deposited, $500,000 
Capital Stock paid in, $464,516, Circulation, 464,515 

Prairie State Bank. — Washington. 

J. L. Marsh, President; H. Lee, Cashier. 

Stocks deposited, $115,000 
Capital Stock paid in, $104,160 Circulation, 104,160 

Railroad Bank. — Decatur. 

P. D. Kline, President ; C. PI. Fuller, Cashier. 
Charter, $50,000 Stocks deposited, $50,000 

Capital Stock paid in, | 56,000 Circulation, 48,050 

Rock Island Bank. — Rock Island. (Closing.) 

M. B. Osborn, President ; S. H. Mann, Cashier. 
^Charter, $100,000 Stocks deposited, $18,000 

Capital Stock paid in, 50,000 Circulation, 16,007 

* According to Monroe. 



BANKS. 425 

Rushville Bank. — Rushville. 

Stocks deposited, $81,500 
Capital Stock paid in, $73,300 Circulation, 73,300 

Southern Bank of Illinois. — Belleville. ( Closing. ) 

R. Hinckley, President; F. Hinckley, Cashier. 
*Charter $300,000 . Stocks deposited, $7000 

Capital Stock paid in, 7000 Circulation, 6000 

Southern Bank of Illinois. — Grayville. 

L. Hinckley, President; C. D. Affleck, Cashier. 

Stocks deposited, $60,000 
Capital Stock paid in, $53,380 Circulation, 53,380 

State Bank of Illinois. — Shawneetown. 

J. Bowles, President; A. B. Safford, Cashier. 

Stocks deposited, $471,186.96 
Capital Stock paid in, $431,305.03 Circulation, 425,389 

Stock Security Bank. — Danville. 

D. Clapp, President; W.-W. Fellows, Cashier. 

Stocks deposited, $200,000 
Capital Stock paid in, $183,400 Circulation, 183,470 

E. I. Tinkham and Co.'s Bank. — McLeansboro. 

S. Tinkham, President; W. Rickords, Cashier. 

Stocks deposited, $265,000 
Capital Stock paid in, $255,000 Circulation, 233,385 

Warren County Bank. — Monmouth. 

T. L. Mackey, President; J. Quimby, Cashier. 

The following banks have been closed during the latter part of the 
period above stated. Those marked with a f have returned, as re- 
quired by law, the amount of notes put in circulation, and withdrawn 
their stocks ; the notes of the others are at present redeemed at the 
auditor's office. 

■fBank of Lucas and Simonds — Springfield. 

Bank of Rockford — Rockford. 

City Bank — Chicago. 

Farmers' Bank — Chicago. 

Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank — Springfield. 

Phoenix Bank — Chicago. 
•\Quincy City Bank — Quincy. 

Union Bank — Chicago. 



36* 



* According to Monroe. 



426 BANKS. 

According to the Congressional Documents, the amount of capital 

employed by bankers, banking without charters, and by money and 
exchange brokers, was, in 

Galena Dec. 22, 1855 $550,000 

Peoria " 18, " 550,000 

Elgin " 22, " 10,000 

Aurora " 20, " 50,000 

La Salle " 20, " 20,000 

Henry " 19, " 15,000 

Peru " 20, " ...., 48,000 

Springfield " 19, " 800,000 

Chicago " 17, " 273,100 

Waukegan " 24, " 10,000 

Quincy " 22, « 130,000 

Decatur Feb. — , 1856 45,000 

Ottawa " 15, " 200,000 

Bloomington " 11, ,'" 50,000 

Freeport Dec. 31, 1855 70,000 

Princeton Feb. 22, 1856 10,000 

Belvidere Jan. — , " 110,000 

Jacksonville..... Mar. 7, " , 5,000 



RAILKOADS. 



The present position of Illinois as regards the natural and artificial 
elements that make a great and prosperous State, is mainly attribut- 
able to the construction of her railroads, by which the State, in all its 
length and breadth, is traversed, and every possible facility afforded 
for an unlimited domestic and foreign trade and intercourse j and 
this, considering her immense territory and the enterprising character 
of her population, must, for all future time, necessarily secure to her 
an equal position with the highest in this great confederation of sister 
States. 

Up to the year 1850, Illinois had only one railroad, running a dis- 
tance of fifty-five miles. At the beginning of the year 1855, there 
were already 1892 miles; at the beginning of 1856, 2215 miles, and 
at its close, there were over 2600 miles, nearly all completed, while 
several new roads were either being projected, or even already in pro- 
gress of construction. 

Among the States of the Union, New York and Ohio have 
the greatest share of railroads : the former having 2795, and the 
latter 2725 miles. Illinois, indeed, is now but little behind them, 
and no doubt in a very brief time will surpass both, and possess more 
miles of railroad than any other State. 

By means of the railroads, Illinois is in immediate communication 
with the East and the West, with the South and the North. The 
State itself is traversed by railroads in all directions — within one 
year's time, there will hardly be a single spot in it, from which one 
of the railroads cannot be reached within one day's travel. 

The number of railroads that either pass entirely through the 
State, or, coming from adjacent States, merely traverse it in some 
parts, is no less than forty-eight, which are nearly all completed and 

(427) 



428 RAILROADS. 

in successful operation. They are all enumerated in the subjoined 
alphabetical list, in which are also stated, the points of commencement 
and termination of each road, the points at which it is crossed or in- 
tersected by other roads, together with the number of miles, &c, 
as far as we were able to ascertain. 

The Alton and Illinoistown Railroad — 

Connects Alton and Illinoistown, and is 25 miles long. 

The Atlantic and Mississippi Railroad — 

Will run from Illinoistown, northeasterly, to Terre Haute, Indiana, and 
cross the main line of the Illinois Central Railroad at Vandalia, the Chi- 
cago branch of the same at Effingham, and the Wabash Valley Eailroad 
about ten miles from the frontier of Indiana. 

The Belleville and Illinoistown Railroad — 

Connects Belleville and Illinoistown, and is 15 miles long. 

The Belleville and Mount Vernon Railroad — 

Will, in coming from Belleville, cross the main line of the Illinois Central 
^Railroad south of Richview, and terminate at Mount Vernon, Jefferson 
county, by an intersection with the Massac and Sangamon Railroad. 

The Belleville and Murphysboro Railroad — 

Will run southeast of Belleville, cross the Kaskaskia river near Athens 
then cross the main line of the Illinois Central Railroad at Carbondale, 
and touch the Ohio river at Brooklyn, Massac county. 

The Beloit Branch of the Galena Railroad — 

Runs, in a northwestern direction, from Belvidere, Boone county, to Be- 
loit, Wisconsin. Length, 20 miles. 

The Bureau Valley Railroad — 

Joins the Rock Island Railroad at Bureau Junction, Bureau county, and 
follows, in a southern direction, the Illinois river ; at Lacon, crossing the 
Fort Wayne, Lacon, and Platte Valley Railroad, and terminating at 
Peoria. Length, 47 miles. 

The Cairo and Vincennes Railroad — 

Is intended to run south, from Vincennes, and, crossing the Massac and 
Sangamon and the Belleville and Murphysboro railroads, to have its ter 
minus at Cairo. 

The Central Military Trad Railroad — 

Forms a portion of the Burlington and Quincy Railroad, from Mendota, 
La Salle county, up to Galesburg, Knox county; in Bureau county, it 
crosses the Rock Island Railroad, and at Galvy, Knox county, the' Fort 
Wayne, Lacon, and Platte Valley Railroad. Length, 80 miles. 



RAILROADS. 429 

The Chicago, Alton, and St. Louis Railroad — 

Connects Chicago and Alton, in a distance of 260 miles. It runs from 
Chicago, in a southwestern direction, via Joliet, at which latter place 
several railroads cross each other. Between Dwight and Odell, it crosses 
the Fort Wayne, Lacon, and Platte Valley Railroad; at Peoria Junction, 
the Logansport and Pacific Railroad ; at Bloomington, the Illinois Cen- 
tral Railroad, and at Springfield, the Great Western Railroad. 

On the last of November, 1856, the privilege was granted to this com- 
pany to extend the road through Alton, so that there is now an uninter- 
rupted railway communication between Chicago and IllinoistOwn. 

The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad — 

Connects Chicago and Burlington, in a distance of 210 miles. It runs, 
westerly, to the Junction, where the Fox Valley, the Chicago, St. Charles, 
and Mississippi, and the Chicago, Fulton, and Iowa Central railroads termi- 
nate; and, proceeding thence in a southwestern direction, via Mendota 
and Galesburg, it reaches its terminus at Burlington. (See Central Mili- 
tary Tract Railroad.) 

The Chicago and Cincinnati Railroad — 

Will use the track of the Chicago and Alton Railroad from Chicago to 
Junction; thence run towards the southeast, and, north of Calumet, cross 
the Chicago branch of the Illinois Central Railroad; and, passing Ro- 
selle and Logansport, finally reach the Indiana line. 

The Chicago and Fort Wayne Railroad — 

Uses the track of the Chicago branch of the Illinois Central Railroad as 
far as Calumet, and from thence, as far as Lake, the Michigan Central 
Railroad ; from the latter point, it will be continued, via Roselle, to Fort 
Wayne. 

The Chicago, Fulton, and Iowa Central Railroad — 

Also called the Dixon Air Line, or the Galena Air Line, forms the shortest 
route (only 135 miles) from Chicago to the Mississippi. It crosses the 
Rockford and Central Railroad west of Lane, and the main line of the 
Illinois Central Railroad at Dixon. 

The Chicago and Milwaukie Railroad — 

Along the shore of Lake Michigan, forms a connection between Chicago 
and ' Milwaukie. Its whole length is 85 miles, of which 40 miles are 
within the State. 

The Chicago and Oswego Railroad — 

Will run from Chicago, in a southwestern direction, to Athens, and from 
thence, after crossing the Lockport and Junction Railroad, will reach its 
terminus, near Oswego, by intersecting the Chicago and Burlington 
Railroad. 



430 RAILROADS. 

The Chicago and Rock Island Railroad — 

Runs via Joliet, at which place it crosses the Illinois riyer. At La Salle 
it crosses the main line of the Illinois Central Railroad, and the Burling- 
ton and Quincy Railroad between Wyanet and Princeton, and then goes 
westward to Rock Island. Length, 182 miles. 

The Chicago, St. Charles, and Mississippi Railroad — 

Will run, via Junction and St. Charles, as far as Savannah, Carroll 
county, on the Mississippi river. On its way, it will cross the Rockford 
and Central Railroad, the main line of the Illinois Central Railroad, and 
the Dixon and Galena Railroad. It is now completed as far as St. 
Charles. 

The Chicago, St. Paul, and Fond du Lac Railroad — 

Formerly called the Illinois and Wisconsin Railroad, runs from Chicago, 
via Janesville, Wisconsin, through Wisconsin, crossing the Fox River 
Valley Railroad at Crystal Lake. Its whole length will he about 360 
miles, of which about 60 miles are within the limits of Illinois. It is 
finished as far as Janesville. 

The Dixon and Galena Air Line Railroad — . 

Will run, in a straight line, from Dixon, in a northwestern direction, and, 
after crossing the Chicago, St. Charles, and Mississippi Railroad, lead 
directly on to Galena. 

The Fort Wayne, Lacon, and Platte Valley Railroad — 

Is intended to form a connection, in a straight line, between Fort Wayne, 
Indiana, and the Mississippi river ; south of Bourbonnais, it will cross the 
Chicago branch of the Illinois Central Railroad ; the Alton and. Chicago 
Railroad south of Dwight; the main line of the Illinois Central Railroad 
north of Wenona ; the Bureau Valley Railroad near Lacon ; the Chicago 
and Burlington Railroad near Galvy, and terminate about ten miles below 
Muscatine, near the Mississippi. 

The Fox River Valley Railroad — 

Commences at Elgin, and runs through the Valley of the Fox river up 
into Wisconsin. Near Crystal Lake, it crosses the Chicago, St. Paul, and 
Fond du Lac Railroad. It is finished to the State boundary line 
Length, 34 miles. 

The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad — 

Runs from Chicago, via Junction and Elgin, as far as Freeport. 
Near Belvidere, terminates, north, the Beloit Branch Railroad, and at 
Rockford, south of it, will terminate the Rockford and Central Railroad 
Length, 121 miles. 






RAILROADS. 431 

The Great Western Railroad — 

Runs from Lafayette, Indiana, via Danville, Vermillion county, as far as 
Naples, on the Illinois river ; it touches the Chicago branch of the 
Illinois Central Railroad between Urbana and Tolono ; crosses the main 
line of the last-mentioned railroad near Decatur, and the Alton and Chi- 
cago Railroad near Springfield. Its length, from Naples to the Indiana 
State-line, is 174 J miles. 

That portion of this railroad which connects Springfield with Naples, 
was the first railway constructed within the State of Illinois (in the year 
1837), but it soon fell into dilapidation, and continued so up to the year 
1847, when it was purchased from the State by several capitalists, under 
whose direction it was reestablished, and the construction of it gradually 
continued, until it was ready as far as the Indiana State-line. 

The Jacksonville and Alton Railroad — 

Will form a connection between Jacksonville and Alton. The subscrip- 
tions for it were started in October, 1856. 

The Illinois Central Railroad — 

Being 704 miles long, is the longest railroad in the State — one of the 
longest in the Union. To its construction and use, the State of Illionois 
is unquestionably indebted for the great progress that has been made 
during the last few years. 

This railroad may be subdivided into three sections, viz.: 

1. The Main Line, from Cairo to La Salle — 308 miles. 

2. The Galena Branch, from La Salle to Dunleith — 146 miles. 

3. The Chicago Branch, from Chicago to Centralia — 250 miles. 

The Main Line will be crossed at Carbondale by the Belleville and Mur- 
physboro Railroad. It crosses the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad at San- 
doval. At Vandalia it will be crossed by the Atlantic and Mississippi, and 
by the Massac and Sangamon railroads. At Panola it will be crossed by the 
Terrehaute and Alton Railroad ; at Decatur, by the Great Western Railroad, 
also touching, at the latter place, the Indiana and Illinois Central Rail- 
. road. At Bloomington it crosses the Alton and Chicago Railroad, and it 
will also be crossed, at the same place, by the railroad which it is in con- 
templation to construct from Peoria to Danville. South of Panola it will 
be crossed by the Logansport and Pacific Railroad ; and, north of Wenona, 
by the Fort Wayne, Lacon, and Platte Valley Railroad ; while at La Salle 
it is crossed by the Rock Island and Chicago Railroad. 

The Galena Branch crosses the Burlington and Quincy Railroad at Men- 
dota ; at Dixon, the Chicago, Fulton, and Iowa Central Railroad ; and it 
will be crossed, south of Foreston, by the Chicago, St. Charles, and Mis- 
sissippi Railroad, while it joins the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad 
at Freeport, and thence runs as far as Dunleith. 



432 RAILROADS. 

The Chicago Branch crosses the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana 
Railroad east of Junction ; and north of Richtbn, the Joliet and North- 
ern Indiana Railroad. South of Manteno, it will be crossed by the Wa- 
bash Valley Railroad ; south of Bourbonnais, by the Fort Wayne, Lacon, 
and Platte Valley Railroad; north of Onarga, by the Logansport and 
Pacific Railroad. At Tolono, it crosses the Great Western Railroad, and 
south of Pesotum,. it will be crossed, by the Indiana and Illinois Central 
Railroad. At Mattoon, it crosses the Terrehaute and Alton Railroad ; at 
Effingham, it will be crossed by the Atlantic and Mississippi Railroad, 
and at Tonti, by the Massac and Sangamon Railroad ; at Odin, it crosses 
the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, and then terminates in the main fine 
at Centralia. 

By means of its great number of junctions and. crossings, the Elinois 
Central Railroad has the advantage of being in the closest connection 
with all parts of the State, and while it traverses the same from Chicago 
to Cairo, and from Cairo to Dunleith, it connects the South with the 
Northeast and Northwest. 

The construction of this railroad was rendered possible by a grant of 
two and a half millions of acres of laud. It was commenced on Christ- 
mas, in the year 1651, and on the 27th of September, 1856, the last rail 
was laid; so that, through excellent management, this great work was 
accomplished in the comparatively short space of four years and nine 
months. While we look upon the marvellous manner in which this road 
has been constructed as something unique and unsurpassed in the history 
of railroad building, and consider of what inestimable value it is to the 
State of Illinois, we must likewise, looking upon it as a mere individual 
speculation, undoubtedly, give it the highest rank among similar enter- 
prises. The receipts of the Company from passengers and for the trans- 
portation of goods increase from month to month ; its stocks always com- 
mand a high price ; and there is no doubt but that the sales of the land 
belonging to the Company will soon enable it to liquidate its entire debt, 
after which there will still be enough land left to enable the Company to 
make a dividend of fifty per cent, on the capital stock. Hence, in every 
respect, the Illinois Central Railroad maintains a position which makes 
it worthy to be ranked among the greatest enterprises of the present 
century. 

The Illinois Coal Company Railroad — 

Connects Caseyville with Brooklyn. It is, as indicated by its name, only 
a coal road, but it also does a passenger and freight business. 

The Illinois River Railroad — 

Is expected to run from Naples to Pekin, or to some other spot on the 
eastern shore of the Illinois river, opposite Peoria. The counties which 



RAILROADS. 433 

this road will traverse, have already made large subscriptions for the 
construction of it. 

The Indiana and Illinois Central Railroad — 

Will be constructed from Indianapolis, Indiana, to Decatur. It will 
cross the Wabash Valley Railroad north of Bloomfield, and the main line 
of the Illinois Central Railroad between Pesotum and Okaw, and then 
join the Great Western Railroad at Decatur. Length, 149^ miles. 

The Joliet and Athens Railroad — 

Runs from Joliet, in a northerly direction, to Athens. 

The Joliet and Northern Indiana Railroad — 

Runs from Joliet to Lake, where it meets the Michigan Central 
Railroad. It crosses the Chicago branch of the Illinois Central Railroad 
north of Richton. Length, 45 miles. 

The Logansport and Pacific Railroad — 

Running in a straight line from Logansport, Indiana, towards the West, 
will cross the Wabash Valley Railroad at Middleport, the Chicago branch 
•of the Illinois Central Railroad north of Onarga, the Alton and Chicago 
Railroad at Peoria Junction, and the main line of the Illinois Central 
Railroad south of Panola ; then, pursuing a southwestern direction, ter- 
minate on the Illinois river, opposite Peoria. 

The Lockjyort Junction Railroad — 

Is intended to run from Lockport, in a northwestern direction, to 
Junction, via Naperville, after previously crossing the Chicago and Os- 
wego Railroad, and at Junction joining the several roads which ter- 
minate there. 

The Massac and Sangamon Railroad — 

Is intended to run from Massac, on the Ohio river, via Marion, Frank- 
fort, and Mt. Vernon, crossing the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad at Salem, 
the Chicago branch of the Illinois Central Railroad at Tonti, the main line 
of the latter at Vandalia, and the Terrehaute and Alton Railroad at 
Hillsboro, to Springfield. 

The Michigan Central Railroad — 

Runs from Calumet, on the Chicago branch of the Illinois Central Rail- 
road, in a southwestern direction, through the northern part of the State 
of Indiana, and into the State of Michigan, to Detroit. The whole length 
of this road is 282 miles, of which, however, only a few miles are within 
the State of Illinois. 

The Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad — 

Runs from Chicago to Monroe, Michigan. It commences at Junction, 
on the Rock Island and Chicago Railroad, crosses the Chicago branch of 
37 2c 



434 RAILROADS. 

the Illinois Central Railroad, and turns to the southeast, traversing 
Northern Indiana, and penetrating into Michigan. Its whole length ia 
245 miles, of which but a few miles are within the State of Illinois. 

The, Naples Hannibal Railroad — 

Is intended to form a continuation of the Great Western Railroad, and to 
traverse the region between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, so as to 
connect Naples and Hannibal. 

The Northern Cross Railroad — 

Runs from Galesburg to Quincy. Length, 100 miles. 

The Northern Cross Branch Railroad — 

Will run from Morgan City, on the Great Western Railroad, to Camp 
Point, on the Northern Cross Railroad, and traverse, near Mount Sterling, 
the Peoria and Hannibal Railroad. 

The Ohio and Mississippi Railroad — 

Runs from Vincennes, Indiana, to Hlinoistown, thus traversing the south- 
ern part of the State in its entire bread h. It will be crossed, near Salem, 
by the Massac and Sangamon Railroad. At Odin, it crosses the Chi- 
cago branch of the Illinois Central Railroad, and at Sandoval, the main 
line of said road. Length, 145 miles. 

The Peoria- and Hannibal Railroad — 

(Also called the Bureau Valley Extension Railroad) will be opened at Peo- 
ria, and run in a southwestern direction, crossing the Northern Cross 
Branch Railroad near Mt. Sterling, and terminate at Hannibal. Its length 
will be about 120 miles. 

The Peoria and Oquawka Railroad — 

Runs, in a northwestern direction, from. Peoria to Galesburg, where it 
joins the Chicago and Burlington Railroad. Also the eastern branch of 
this road is already under construction ; at Bloomington it will cross the 
Alton and Chicago Railroad, and the main line of the Illinois Central 
Railroad ; at Urbana, the Chicago branch of the latter road, and join the 
Indiana roads at Danville. 

The Peoria and Rock Island Railroad 

Will bring Peoria and Rock Island into immediate connection. It will 
cross the Chicago and Burlington, and the Fort Wayne, Lacon, and Platte 
Valley railroads. Length, 82 miles. 

The Rochford Central Railroad — 

Will run from Rockford, in a southern direction, crossing the Chicago, 
St. Charles, and Mississippi Railroad, and the Chicago, Fulton, and Iowa 
Central Railroad, and join the Illinois Central Railroad at Mendota. 



RAILROADS. 435 

! 
The Terrekaute, Alton, and St. Louis Railroad — 

Soon after passing the Indiana frontier, will be crossed, near Paris, by 

the Lake Erie, Wabash, and St. Louis Railroad. It crosses the Chicago 

branch of the Illinois Central Railroad at Mattoon, the main line of said 

road at Pana, and then runs, in a southwestern direction, to Alton. At 

Hillsboro, it will be crossed by the Massac and Sangamon Railroad. 

Length, 178 miles. 

The Vincennes and Paducah Railroad — 

"Will run, almost in a southern direction, from Vincennes, to Brooklyn, 
Massac county, opposite Paducah, in Kentucky. 

The Wabash Valley Railroad — 

Will run from Joliet, in a southern direction, to Vincennes; it will cross, 
south of Manteno, the Chicago branch of the Illinois Central Railroad, 
then the Fort Wayne, Lacon, and Platte Valley Railroad ; then the Logans- 
port and Pacific Railroad at Middleport ; the Great Western Railroad at 
Danville ; then the Indiana and Illinois Central Railroad ; the Terre- 
haute and Alton Railroad at Paris ; and, finally, the Atlantic and Missis- 
sippi Railroad. 

The Warsaw and RocJcford Railroad — 

Will run from Warsaw, Hancock county, to Port Byron, Rock Island 
county, and have a length of 62 miles. 



PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. 



The Illinois University, at Springfield, was established by an 
act of the Legislature, in the year 1855. Although the main object 
of its establishment was to diffuse useful knowledge, science, and 
art, in general, yet there have been established principally — 

1. A department for the education of teachers of the common 

schools. 

2. An agricultural department, for the education and accom- 

plishment of farmers; and 

3. A mechanical department, for instruction in the mechanical 

sciences. 

The management of the University is entrusted to the care and 
supervision of a president and twelve trustees, while a number of pro- 
fessors impart instruction in the various branches. 

The number of students is about 130. 

The Northern- Illinois University, at Henry, Marshall county, was 
likewi-se established in the year 1855, and is placed under the pa- 
tronage of four Methodist conferences. 

The Illinois College, at Jacksonville, was established in the year 
1829. It has from seven to eight professors, and about 140 alumni 
and students. 

The Shurtlrff College, at Upper Alton, under the superintendency 
of the Baptists, and in connection with a theological seminary, was 
established in the year 1835. It has seven professors, and about 70 
alumni and students. 

(436) 



PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. 437 

The McKendree College, at Lebanon, under the superintendency 
of the Methodists, and likewise established in the year 1835, has six 
professors, and about 150 alumni and students. 

The Knox College, at Galesburg, was established in the year 1837. 
It has seven professors, and the number of its students and alumni 
is from 90 to 100. 

The Rush Medical College, at Chicago, established in the year 
1842, has nine professors, and counts about 130 students and 
graduates. 

TJie Illinois Hospital for the Insane is at Jacksonville. In the 
years 1851 to 1854, there were 404 persons admitted into it, of which 
number 148 were cured, and 27 died. Of the 404 patients admitted, 
46 were born in Illinois, and the rest partly in other States of the 
Union, and partly in Europe. The majority of these patients were 
males. 

In 197 of the patients, causes of their insanity were unknown. 
Of the other cases, among the known causes, the, following deserve to 
be mentioned: — 37 in consequence of other diseases and defects of 
the constitution; 33 from child-bearing and certain female diseases; 
12 through hereditary imperfections; 13 of injuries to the head; 2 by 
sun-stroke (coup de soleil); 4 from intemperance; 35 through grief; 
22 from pietism; 8 by " spirit rappings/' or spiritualism; 17 from 
unhappy love ; 6 from excessive study , 2 of home-sickness ; 4 from 
distress for money; 1 through jealousy; 1 by seduction, and 1 
through ambition. 

Of the 22 patients whose insanity was caused by pietism, 17 were 
males and 5 females ; of those from unhappy love, 11 were males and 
6 females ; and of those who suffered through the influence of spiri- 
tual manifestations, 7 were males, and 1 a female. 

Since the 16th of June, 1854, the institution has been under the 
superintendency of Dr. McFarland, late superintendent of the New 
Hampshire Asylum for the Insane. During the two years, from the 
1st of December, 1852, to the 1st of December, 1854, the receipts 
of the institution amounted to 8104,696.59, and the expenditures to 
$100,680.93. 
37* 



438 PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. 

The Institution for the Education of the Blind is at Jacksonville, 
and stands under the superintendency of Joshua Rhoads, Esq. Ac- 
cording to the Ileport of the first of January, 1855, there were at 
that time 35 pupils in it. 

The Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb is like- 
wise at Jacksonville. At the beginning of the year 1855, there were 
99 pupils in it, of whom 59 were males, and 40 females. Ninety-five 
were of Illinois, and four from Missouri. 

The State Penitentiary is at Alton, and the usual number of its 
inmates is from 4£0 to 500. 



NEWSPAPERS, 



It is a well-known observation, that the superiority or inferiority 
of a people with respect to intelligence may be fairly estimated by 
the greater or lesser activity of the newspaper press in their midst. 
We therefore record it, as a very satisfactory fact, that Illinois, 
although but a virgin State, and just entering the period of her real 
development, already possesses a large amount of daily literature. 
According to the information we have obtained, there are not less 
than 161 newspapers published within the State : of these, 147 are 
printed in the English, 13 in the German, and 1 in the French lan- 
guage. The subjoined is an alphabetical list of them, according to 
their respective places of publication : — 

ALTON. — The Courier, by G. T. Brown. Daily, weekly, and tri-weekly. 

The Democrat, by J. Fitch. Daily and weekly. 

Illinois Beobachter. Weekly. (German.) 

The Telegraph, by J. L. Baker & Co. Weekly. 
AURORA. — The Beacon, by D. & J. W. Randall. Weekly. 

The Guardian, by S. Whiteley. Weekly. 
BATAVIA. — The Fox River Expositor, by Risk & Co. Weekly. 
BEARDSTOWN. — The Central Illinoisian, by Shaw & Reavis. Weekly. 

The Gazette. Weekly. 
BELLEVILLE. — The Advocate, by J. S. Coulter. Daily and weekly. 

Der Deutsche Democrat. Weekly. (German.) 

Belleviller Volksblatt, by Dr. Wenzel. Weekly. (German.) 

Belleviller Zeitung, by I. Grimm. Daily. (German.) 
BELVIDERE. — The Standard, by R. Roberts Weekly. 
BLOOMINGTON. — The Flag. Weekly. 

The Pantograph, by W. E. Foote. Weekly. 

The Times. Weekly. 

The Central Illinois Times, by J. W. Underwood & Co. Weekly. 

(439) 



440 NEWSPAPERS. 

CAIRO. — Times and Delta, by E. Willet & L. G. Faxon. Tri-weekly and weekly. 

CALEDONIA. — Pulaski Democrat, by Miller. Weekly. 

CARLINVILLE. — Macoupin Statesman, by J. L. Dagger. Weekly. 

CARLYLE. — The Age of Progress, by I. W. Snow. Weekly. 

CARROLTON. — The Gazette, by G. B. Price. Weekly. 

CENTRAL CITY. — The Gazette, by E. Schiller. Weekly. 

CHARLESTON. — The Courier. Weekly. 

CHESTER. — The Herald, by Hanna and Phillips. Weekly. 

CHICAGO. — Bank Note List, by F. G. Adams. Semi-monthly. 

Chicago Abendzeitung, by Committi & Beckert. Daily. (German.) 

Christian Times, by Church & Smith. Weekly. 

Commercial Advertiser, by A. Dutch. Daily, tri-weekly, and weekly. 

Congregational Herald, by I. C. Halbrook. Weekly. 

The Democrat, by John Wentworth. Daily and weekly. 

The Democratic Press, by Scripps, Bross & Spears. Daily, tri-weekly, 
and weekly. 

The Evangelist, by Patterson & Curtis. 

The Garden City, by Sloan & Co. Weekly. 

The Journal, by Wilson & Co. Daily, tri-weekly, and weekly. 

Illinois Staatszeitung, by Hoffgen & Schneider. Daily and weekly. (Germ.) 

National Demokrat, by Diverzy & Schade. Daily. (German.) 

New Covenant, by Skinner & Day. Weekly. 

Northwestern Christian Advocate, by J. V. Watson. Weekly. 
• The Prairie Farmer, by A. F. Kennicott & Co. Weekly. 

Prairie Herald, by J. A. Wright. Weekly.* 

The Times, by Cook & Co. Daily and weekly. 

The Tribune, by Fowler & Co. Daily and weekly. 

Western Crusader, by J. Dow & Co. Weekly. 

Western Enterprise, by E. P. Little. Weekly. 

Western Pathfinder, by W. B. Hanner. Weekly. 

Western Tablet. Weekly. 
DANVILLE. — The Illinois Citizen. Weekly. 
DECATUR. — Gazette, by G. Shoaff. Weekly. 
DE WITT. — The Courier, by Jones & Watkins. Weekly. 
DIXON. — The Telegraph, by B. F. Shaw. Weekly. 

The Transcript, by Stevens and Johnson. Weekly. 
DU PAGE. — The Journal, by Keith, Edson & Co. Weekly. 
ELGIN. — Kane County Journal, by Lyman & Smith. Weekly. 

The Palladium, by Rowe & Joslyn. Weekly. 
FAIRFIELD. — Independent Press, by F. C. Mawley. Weekly. 



NEWSPAPERS. 441 

FREEPORT. — The Bulletin. v Weekly. 

Deutscher Anzeiger, by W. Wagner. Weekly. (German.) 
The Journal, by H. M. Scheetz. Weekly. 

FULTON City. — The Advertiser, by McFaddon & Laighton. Weekly. 

Whiteside's Investigator. Weekly. 
GALENA. — The Advertiser, by H. H. Houghton. Daily, tri-weekly, and weekly. 

The Courier, by Leae, Crouch & Co. Daily. 

The Jefersonian, by Ray and Sanford. Weekly. 

North Western Gazette, by Houghton & Co. Weekly. 
GALESBURG. — Free Democrat, by W. J. Woods. Weekly. 
GENESEO. — The Standard. Weekly. 

GENEVA. — Kane County Democrat, by Herrington & McQuillen. Weekly. 
GRAYVILLE. — The News, by J. Prather. Weekly. 
HAVANA. — Mason County Herald. Weekly. 
HILLSBORO. — Montgomery County Herald, by C. D. Dickerson. Weekly. 

Prairie Mirror, by G. H. Gilmore. Weekly. 
HUTSONVILLE. — Wabash Sentinel, by E. Callahan. Weekly. 
JACKSONVILLE. — The Constitutionist. Weekly. 

The Morgan Journal, by Selby and Clayton. Weekly. 
JERSEYVILLE. — The Prairie State, by A. Smith. Weekly. 
JOLIET. — The True Democrat, by A. Mcintosh. Weekly. 

The Signal, by C. & C. Zarley. Weekly. 
KANKAKEE CITY. — Gazette, by Leonard & Grooms. Weekly. 

Journal de V Illinois. Weekly. (French.) 
KNOXVILLE. — The Journal, by J. Regan. Weekly. 
LACON. — The Herald, by S. Ramsey. Weekly. 

Illinois Gazette, by A. N. Ford. Weekly. 
LAKE ZURICH. — The Banker, by S. Paine. Weekly. 
LA SALLE. — The Press, by Boynton & Co. Weekly. 
LEWISTOWN. — The Fulton Democrat, by J. M. Davidson. Weekly. 

Fulton Ledger. Weekly. 

Fulton Republican. Weekly. 
LINCOLN. — The Illinois Citizen, by Moudy Fuller. Weekly. 
LOCKPORT. — The Telegraph, by Dagett & Holcomb. Weekly. 
MACOMB. — McDonough Democrat, by Smith & Royalty. Weekly. 

McDonough Independent, by G. W. Smith. Weekly. 

MARSHALL. — The Eastern lllinoisan, by Robinson & Zimmerman. Weekly. 
The Telegraph, by S. P. Andrews. Weekly. 



442 NEWSPAPERS. 

MENDOTA. — The Press, by C. R. Fisk. Weekly. 

METAMORA. — Woodford County Visitor, by S. P. Shope. Weekly. 

MIDDLEPORT. —Iroquois County Press, by Keady & Scott. Weekly. 

MOLINE. — The Workman. Weekly. 

MONMOUTH. — The Atlas, by C. K. Smith. Weekly. 

The Review, by A. H. Swain. Weekly. 
MORRIS. — The Gazette, by A. J. Ashton. Weekly. 

Grundy County Herald, by Buffington & Soutard. Weekly. 

The Grundy Yeoman, by I. C. Watkins. Weekly. 
MOUNT CARMEL. — The Register, by T. S. Bowers. Weekly. 
MOUNT STERLING. — The Chronotype, by J. R. Bailey. Weekly. 

The Western Spy. Weekly. 
MOUNT VERNON. — The Jeffersonian, by J. S. Bogan. Weekly. 
NAPERVILLE. — Du Page County Observer, by G. Martin. Weekly. 
NASHVILLE. — The Monitor, by H. Johnson. Weekly. 
OREGON. — The Ogle County Reporter, by M. W. Smith. Weekly. 
OQUAWKA. — The Plaindealer, by Dallam & Bigelow. Weekly. 

The Spectator. Weekly. 
OSWEGO. — Kendall County Courier, by H. S. Humphrey. Weekly. 
OTTAWA. — The Freetrader, by W. Osman. Weekly. 

The Republican, by T. Hampton. Weekly. 
PARIS. — The Prairie Beacon. Weekly. 

The Valley Blade, by Pratt & Brendt. Weekly. 

The Wabash Valley Republican. Weekly. 

PEORIA. — Illinois Banner, by A. Zotz. Weekly. (German.) 

Illinois Republikaner, by I. P. Stibolt. Weekly. (German.) 

Morning News, by G. W. Raney. Daily. 

The Press. Daily and weekly. 

The Evening Republican, by S. L. Coulter. Daily, tri- weekly, and weekly, 

The Transcript, by N. G. Nason. Daily and weekly. 

PERU. — Der Anzeiger, by Heinrichs. Weekly. (German.) 
The Chronicle, by J. F. Linton. Weekly. 

PITTSFIELD. — Pike County Free Press, by J. G. Nicolay. Weekly. 
PONTIAC. — Livingston County News, by Cook & Renoe. Weekly. 
PRINCETON. — The Post, by Ch. Faxon. Weekly. 
QUINCY. — Illinois Courier. Weekly. (German.) 

The Herald, by A. Brooks. Daily and weekly. 

Quincy Journal. Weekly. (German. ) 



NEWSPAPERS. 443 

QUINCY. — The Republican, by D. S. Morrison & Co. Daily. 

The Western Patriot, by Warren & Gibson. Weekly. 

The Whig, by Norton & Ralston. Daily, tri-weekly & weekly. 
ROCKFORD. — Rock River Democrat, by Dickson & Bird. Weekly. 

The Register, by E. C. Dougherty. Weekly. 

The Republican, by Blaisdell, jr., & Co. Weekly. 
ROCK ISLAND. — The Advertiser, by 0. P. Wharton. Daily. 

The Morning Argus, by Danforth & Shurly. Daily. 

The Republican, by J. B. Danforth. Weekly. 

Rock Island Beobachier. Weekly. (German.) 

RUSHVILLE. — Prairie Telegraph, by J. Scripps & Son. Weekly. 
ST. CHARLES. —Kane County Democrat, by J. S. Jones. Weekly. 
SHAWNEETOWN. — The Southern lllinoisan, by Edwards & Son. Weekly. 
SHELBYVILLE. — The Shelby Banner, by P. L. Schutt. Weakly. 
SPRINGFIELD. — The Illinois Farmer, by S. Francis. Weekly. 

The Illinois State Journal, by Bailhache & Baker. Daily, tri weekly, 
and weekly. • 

The Illinois State Register, by Lanphier & Walker. Daily. 
STERLING. — The Times, by Narwood & Goodrich. Weekly. 
SYCAMORE. — The Republican Sentinel, by H. A. Hough. Weekly 
TOULON. — The Prairie Advocate. Weekly. 
URBANA. — The Union. Weekly. 
WARSAW. — The Express, by Thos. C. Sharp. Weekly. 
WATERLOO. — Monroe Advertiser, by H. C. Talbott. Weekly 

Monroe Demokrat. Weekly. (German.) 

The Patriot, by G. Abbott. Weekly. 
WAUKEGAN. — The Gazette, by N.C. Geer. Weekly. 
WILMINGTON. — The Herald, by W. H. Clark. Weekly. 
WOODSTOCK. — The Republican Free Press, by C. C. McClure & Co Weekly 






WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 






By an act of the last Legislature of Illinois, it was ordained, that 
whenever any of the articles specified below shall be contracted for, 
or sold and delivered, the weight of each shall be the number of 
pounds per bushel set opposite to it, unless there shall be a special 
contract or agreement to the contrary. 



Pounds. 

Wheat 60 

Shelled Corn 56 

Corn in the ear 70 

Rye 56 

Oats 38 

Barley 47 

Irish Potatoes 60 

Sweet Potatoes 55 

White Beans 60 

Castor Beans 46 

Clover Seed 60 

Timothy Seed 45 

Hemp Seed 44 

Flax Seed 56 



Pounds. 

Blue Grass Seed 14 

Buckwheat 52 

Dried Peaches 33 

Dried Apples 24 

Onions 57 

Salt 50 

Coal 80 

Malt 38 

Bran 20 

Turnips 55 

Plastering Hair 8 

Unslacked Lime 80 

Corn Meal 48 

Pine Salt 55 



(444) 



HINTS TO IMMIGRANTS, 



As this book is designed to be read and used, not only by those 
who already enjoy the. happiness of being citizens of the Prairie 
State, but also by those who may hereafter seek to establish homes 
for themselves within its borders, it will doubtless be quite acceptable 
to the latter class, to receive, in addition to the information contained 
in the preceding chapters, a few hints, dictated by experience, in re- 
spect to what is in the first place most expedient and necessary to be 
done by them, and next as to what they may expect, in their efforts 
to secure a fortunate settlement. 

In the first place, then, no immigrant should neglect to make a 
tour of the State, and carefully examine for himself into the diver- 
sified nature and quality of its soil, as found in the various districts ; 
and until he has done so, he should not purchase any land. Time 
and means, it is true, are both required for this purpose, but cer- 
tainly, neither will be lost or spent in vain. The advantages that 
may thus be gained, will amply repay the investment; and it will be 
found far better, than to purchase in haste, and repent at leisure, as 
is too often the case with inconsiderate settlers. Besides, since the 
opening of the railroads, travelling in Illinois is so much facili- 
tated, that one may visit almost every place at a trifling cost. 

Persons who have large means at command, will undoubtedly do 
well to purchase their land in the immediate vicinity of some railroad 
or large town ; while those whose means are limited, will find it more 
advantageous to make their choice of land in districts lying farther 
removed from such centres, but where the soil is equally notable for 
its excellent qualities, and the price a great deal lower. 

A person with small means, having found from forty to eighty 
38 (445) 



446 HINTS TO IMMIGRANTS. 

acres, situated in a neighborhood which he likes, and but five or si* 
miles from a place where building and fencing materials, as well as 
fuel, can be bought at reasonable prices, should endeavor to effect a 
purchase, under an arrangement for a credit on three-fourths of the 
purchase-money for a sufficiently long term ; and, after succeeding 
in this, he should then immediately set to work and lay the founda- 
tion of his new family hearth. 

A pair of good horses, a wagon, one cow, a couple of pigs, several 
domestic fowls, two ploughs (one for breaking up the prairie, and the 
other for tillage), together with a few other tools and implements, 
are all that is necessary for a beginning. A log house can soon be 
erected. Thus provided for in the outset, and working with a joyful 
heart and honest perseverance, the confiding farmer will, surely, under 
the blessing of heaven, soon be enabled to replace his log hut with a 
cheerful dwelling-house, and to meet the payments of purchase-money 
as they become due, and still have a handsome surplus. In the 
course of a few years, therefore, one whose means in the start are rather 
stinted, may become an independent farmer, and enjoy his own farm 
and homstead free of debts. Of such success, innumerable instances 
may be found in the State of Illinois. 

In the chapter on " Agriculture/' we have shown, by several ac- 
counts of the yield of crops, how easy it is for a farmer to rise in this 
State. We will here cite but one instance, to show that a mechanic 
may also, with equal ease, secure wealth and independence. It is 
found in an extract from a letter of Mr. J. H. Atkinson, of Pekin, 
dated December the 5th, 1855. This gentleman, speaking of Pekin, 
writes thus : — 

This town has about two thousand inhabitants, and contains two houses 
engaged in the manufacture of wagons ; four, of ploughs ; two, of carriages 
and buggies; two places for horse-shoeing, exclusively ; two gunsmiths ; two 
cabinet-makers ; one chair-maker ; three coopers' shops ; one foundry and 
machine shop; one large manufactory of reaping and mowing machines, and 
one pottery ; — all of which may be said to be doing a first rate business, in 
proportion to the amount of capital invested, which is, in some instances, very 
small, and in others proportionately large. 

All composing said manufacturing firms (making no exceptions) came here, 
or were raised here (poor men), mechanics or artisans, and have pretty much 
the same circumstances marking the history of their rise, All, by steady in- 



HINTS TO IMMIGRANTS. 447 

dustry, have commenced small shops on their own hook, and work on repairs 
or job work, filling in their spare time on new work, which gradually grew 
into a business, only varied in the amount of its prosperity by the difference 
in energy of its proprietors, or its own susceptibilities of extension or enlarge- 
ment. In a few instances, this rapidity of growth is truly astonishing. I will 
give you one instance : — The firm of T. and H. Smith & Co. now works on a 
capital of probably fifty thousand dollars, and employs, regularly, from fifty- 
five to sixty men, mechanics and artisans of all descriptions, at prices varying 
from $1.50 to $3 per day; turn out one wagon per day, at a price varying 
from $90 to $130, according to quality; a great many buggies and carriages, 
at prices from $115 to $700 each; together with a plough business, amounting 
to near one thousand ploughs a year of all descriptions. Said firm, five years 
ago, consisted of T. and Henry Smith, two poor Hanoverians, the one a wagon- 
maker, the other a blacksmith, who rented a small shop, and went to work on 
repairing wagons, shoeing horses, &c, and were soon enabled to buy the old 
shop and lot on which it stood ; after which, they began by filling in spare 
time on new work, to be able to make a business of it, which has gradually 
increased up to its present limits, and instead of the old shop first rented, 
only large enough to contain one work-bench and one smith's .fire, the lot 
first mentioned and five adjacent ones are occupied by large and commodious 
workshops, each bi'anch of the business being headed by one of the firm, all 
of whom are mechanics (brothers), and all work. 

This is the history of every shop in town and the adjacent country. All 
were, only a few years ago, poor men, and now many of them are wealthy ; 
and we have no instances of men who have commenced, even in the smallest 
way at first, who have attended to their business, and lived within their 
means, not meeting with the same success. Our business men, merchants 
and storekeepers, millers, pork packers, bankers — in fact, every man who now 
figures in this town, as being above the condition of laboring men, are men 
who came here poor — most of them very poor. 

Let the immigrant consider this. Such advantages as those here 
stated are still everywhere open to the honest, industrious, and eco- 
nomical settler. What is said of Pekin is but the oft-repeated story 
of many other places, and will be as frequently verified in the future 
history of the State. 

In the preparation of this work, whenever it became necessary to 
state our opinions on any particular subject, we have always fortified 
them by the authority of reliable persons who have for many years 
resided in Illinois — we have frequently even made use of their own 
words ) and now, in giving these hints to new settlers, we will again 
avail ourselves of the information communicated to us by practical 



448 HINTS TO IMMIGRANTS. 

men, whose actual observations for many years past enable them 
to speak familiarly and authoritatively " on matters and things in 
general/' as they exist in the State of which they are citizens. We 
will, therefore, here introduce to our readers an old settler, Mr. John 
Williams, of Albany, Coles county, who, in a letter dated December 
the 23d, 1855, says : — 

I have lived in Illinois about thirty years, and have seen some tips and 
downs in that time. I moved from Kentucky, and settled first in Vermillion 
county; after living there thirteen years, I moved into Champaign county, 
lived there three years, and then went over into Piatt county, Missouri ; hut 
not having seen the land there before moving out, and finding it did not 
equal my expectations, I returned to Illinois, and settled in Coles county, 
where I have remained ever since. You can, therefore, see that I have been 
over some of the West, in search of the best place to make the " almighty 
dollar;" and, as I think I have found it, I will here say, that, after a man has 
lived in the State of Illinois, and farmed its rich soil for a few years, he will 
find it hard work to hunt up a better country. 

When I first settled in Vermillion county, the representation of our district 
comprised all the State lying up along the Lake, including Chicago, which 
then consisted only of the old block fort on the lake shore. At that time, we, 
in the centre of the State, had no market for any of our produce ; we had no 
railroads, and were forced to kill our hogs at home, team them to Terre Haufe, 
sixty miles, and then get $1.50 to $2 per hundred weight, taking half the 
amount in store goods at a very high figure. 

So farmers had to work along, in those days. I have known corn to sell 
for five to eight cents per bushel ; and yet, even then, they did well, from the 
fact that they could raise everything they wanted to eat, and in abun- 
dance too. 

My advice to farmers in the East is, to leave their rocks and hills, where 
they are just grubbing out a living, and come on to these splendid prairies, 
as they lie all ready for the plough, and where everything which the farmer 
plants yields such an abundant return. 

Mr. James N. Brown, of Island Grove, formerly President of the 
State Agricultural Society, in a letter dated November the 28th, 1855, 



Let the industrious poor man know, that all he has to do, is, to become 
the holder of forty or eighty acres of land, build his cabin, and go to work 
with his team, and turn over the sod, and commence tilling the soil, — and 
that the laws of the land protect him against the depredations of stock— 



HINTS TO IMMIGRANTS. 449 

and, my word for it, we shall see, in a very short time, all our prairies 
brought into cultivation, and teeming with an industrious and happy popula- 
tion, adding millions to the wealth of the State. 

Rev. J. S. Barger, of Clinton, De Witt county, in his letter of 
the 22d of January, 1855, says : — 

Let them come by thousands and tens of thousands — there is room enough 
— and examine the country. They will find rich lands, and good water, and 
general health, almost everywhere. This is not a wilderness. They will find 
schools and churches springing up in almost every settlement made, and now 
being made, throughout the State. Illinois is not a moral desolation. It 
literally and spiritually "blossoms as the rose." Let them come to Chicago, 
and go to Galena, and visit Cairo. But let them not remain at either place, 
unless they choose. The Illinois Central Eailroad and its branches traverse 
the finest portion of the globe. Let them glide through our State, on these 
and other roads, now checkering the entire of this "Garden of the Lord," 
and stop where they will, to " examine the land, of what sort it is," and they 
will no longer consent to dig among the rocks, and plough the sterile land of 
their forefathers. But they will long bless the day, when they found, for 
themselves and their children, such comfortable homes, as they still may 
obtain in this rich and beautiful Prairie State, destined soon to compare 
w itH — nay, to surpass, in all the most desirable respects — the most prosper- 
ous State in the Union. 

We think we cannot conclude this last chapter of our book in a 
better manner than with the words of one of the worthiest citizens of 
Illinois, and who, having been one of its earliest settlers, now looks 
back through a long life of toil and experience. This gentleman is 
Mr. Edson Harkness, of Southport, Peoria county, to whom we are 
also indebted for valuable contributions to this work, as well as for 
the kindness through which we are privileged to place before our 
readers the following extract from his excellent tl Volunteer Advice 
to Immigrants" : — 

A few suggestions, to those who are desirous of building up a home in the 
rich and rapidly improving West, may not be out of place, from an old man, 
who has seen much of pioneer life. It can hardly be expected, that you will 
be entirely free from those amiable prejudices, which spread a sort of sanctity 
over the manners, customs, language, and habits of the home you have left. 
You will fimi yourself constantly instituting comparisons between the old state 
of things to which you have been accustomed, and the changed condition of 
affairs which you find in the West. If the old and the new are alike, you will 
38* 2d 



450 HINTS TO IMMIGRANTS. 

conclude that all is well. But the old -will be very apt to be set up. as a 
standard of right. This state of mind you must endeavor to change, as soon 
as possible, and to decide every question upon its intrinsic merits. 

You -will come in daily contact with people from all the other States and 
from all the nations of Western Europe. There will be many of them speak- 
ing strange dialects of the English language — that is, strange to you. But 
you must not forget that yours is also strange to them. Be therefore very 
'cautious how you criticise the bad English of others — for they can, perhaps, 
point out as many defects in your pronunciation, as you can in theirs. The 
best way is, to look over your dictionary occasionally, correct your own errors, 
and let other people, if they will, do the same. 

Again, be very careful not to underrate the intelligence or the capacity of 
those with whom you may come in contact. Many of our people are very 
plain in their manners ; but they are, like yourself, all immigrants — have 
seen a great deal of the world, and have become shrewd observers of character. 
With such men, you will soon find your level, wherever that level may be. — 
It is not uncommon for young men, who have received the best educational 
advantages, to come out to the West with high expectations of honor and 
distinction among a people not peculiarly blessed with the means of intelli- 
gence. Such expectations are pretty sure to end in disappointment. Our 
people are eminently practical, but too stupid or too gain-loving to appreciate 
very highly the refinements of the mere scholar, whose claim to distinction 
is based upon a knowledge of books alone. 

If the scholar will in any way bring his knowledge to bear upon the prac- 
tical interests of society, he may do well enough. If he will teach a country 
school for from twenty to thirty dollars per month, and "board round," he 
may soon get the good will and esteem of the community. He must be care- 
ful not to use a language which is "all Greek" to his hearers — must treat 
every one with respect and kindness — must take an interest in the welfare 
of every family, and, at the same time, turn a deaf ear to the small scandal 
and small gossip- of the neighborhood. 

A young man may learn more that is really useful by teaching a country 
school for one winter, than in twice that time spent in college — that is, if he 
thoroughly studies the living "subjects" around him. If he has tact and 
good sense enough to keep on the right side of his pupils and their parents 
he is then fairly started on the highway to honor and distinction. He can 
then go and make his " claim," or his purchase of wild land, and prepare to 
set up as a farmer. If he had not a cent in his pocket when he came to the 
"settlement," if he is orderly, prudent, and industrious for a year, his credit 
will be established. 

He can then purchase what may be indispensable, in the way of a team and 
implements, for starting business on a small scale. After toiling on a year 
or two more, some one of the bright-eyed maidens who attended his school. 



HINTS TO IMMIGRANTS. 451 

will begin to pity his lonely condition, and consent to share the joys and the 
(sorrows of life with him. 

A small house is then built, and is enlarged as the inmates multiply. The 
farm is also enlarged as the wealth of the owner is increased. Orchards are 
planted — ornamental trees, shrubs and vines start up, and grow luxuriantly 
about the house. The house itself, having been built a piece at a time, from 
the necessities of the hour, begins to look shabby, and yet below the con- 
dition of the owner, — a new and splendid one is accordingly built, near the 
site of the old one, so as to save the shrubs and trees for the new lawn. The 
old house is sold to some new settler, and taken away. 

The poor schoolmaster has become a man of affluence, and has filled 
various public offices with advantage to the State, and with credit and honor 
to himself. 

This is no dream, — no fancy sketch — but the literal history, so far as it 
goes, of thousands of our western farmers. 

But, perhaps, there may be too much hard work implied, in the foregoing 
sketch, to suit the refined tastes of a portion of those who, in imagination, are 
rearing their future castles on the broad western prairies. Let me say to you, 
young man, if you come to a new country to avoid hard work, you will 
commit a great error. If you are a preacher, lawyer, physician, farmer, or 
mechanic, you must work — work. 

We have, out here, got rid of the old feudal prejudices of caste. Work is 
not only honorable, but the only means of distinction. We have, it is true, 
a large and flourishing establishment, provided by the State, as a home for 
those who endeavor to get their living without honest work : but it is not 
popular to go there — in fact, none go, unless compelled to do so by positive 
law, and under the escort of — a sheriff. 

If you are willing to work at any honest business, for which your previous 
training has fitted you — if willing to join the great army, which, with the 
axe, the plough, and the steam-engine, is striking out into the desert, and 
conquering an empire greater than was ever ruled by a Tamerlane or a 
Bonaparte — come on ! we will give you a place in our ranks, and if you act 
the part of a good, brave soldier, in the struggle for personal independence, 
you shall be promoted. It is the object of every true soldier in this great 
army, to "conquer a piece" of rich and bountiful land, for himself and his 
posterity. Our ranks are not full. We have room enough to take in half a 
million of recruits annually for the next century, and still there will be room 
for more ! Come on, then, and work out life's problem, as best you can, in 
the free and boundless West. 



THE END 



KEEN & LEE 

Offer to the Trade of the North- West the following CATA- 
LOGUE OF GOODS connected with the Book and 
Stationery Business. 

Their connections with large Importing and Manufac- 
turing Establishments, both at the East and in Europe, as 
well as frequent visits thereto, enable them to have con- 
stantly on hand a complete assortment of Goods, which 
they can supply to the Trade at the very lowest prices, and 
on the best terms. 

Merchants from the Country visiting Chicago, are re- 
quested to call and examine their stock. 



CATALOGUE. 

SCHOOL BOOKS. 
Readers. 

McGUFFY'S FIRST READER. 

" SECOND, THIRD, FOURTH, and FIFTH do 

SAUNDERS' FIRST READER, (Old Series.) 
SECOND " " 

" THIRD " " 

" FOURTH " " 

TOWN'S FIRST READER. 

" SECOND, THIRD, and FOURTH do. 

DENMAN'S STUDENT'S FIRST READER. 
" " SECOND « 

" " THIRD and FOURTH do. 

PARKER'S FIRST READER. 

" SECOND, THIRD, FOURTH, and FIFTH do. 

SANDERS' NEW FIRST READER. 

" " SECOND, THIRD, FOURTH, and FIFTH do. 

WEBB'S READER, Nos. 1, 2, and 3. 
NORMAL READER. 
« FIFTH 

(2) 



KEEN & LEE S PUBLICATIONS. 



SARGENT'S STANDARD FIRST READER. 

" " SECOND and THIRD do. 

" " FOURTH and FIFTH do. 

INDIANA FIRST READER. 

" SECOND,. THIRD, and FOURTH do. 

GOODRICH'S FIRST READER. 

" SECOND, THIRD, FOURTH, and FIFTH do. 

Spelling Books. 

WEBSTER'S ELEMENTARY SPELLER. 

SANDERS' OLD and NEW SPELLER; McGUFFY'S do. 

TOWN'S OLD and NEW SPELLER. 

DENMAN'S STUDENT'S SPELLER. 

PRICE'S SPELLER j WEBSTER'S PICTORIAL do. 

Arithmetics. 

THOMPSON'S MENTAL ARITHMETIC. 
" PRACTICAL « 

" HIGHER « 

" TABLE BOOK. 

" SLATE AND BLACK-BOARD EXERCISES. 

ADAMS' NEW REVISED ARITHMETIC. 

PRIMARY ARITHMETIC ; COLBURN'S MENTAL do. 
EMERSON'S FIRST ARITHMETIC. 

" SECOND and THIRD do. 

RY'S FIRST ARITHMETIC. 

" SECOND and THIRD do. 
SMITH'S MENTAL ARITHMETIC. 

" SECOND do., and THIRD OR NEW do.. 

DAVIES' TABLE BOOK. 

" PRIMARY ARITHMETIC. 

" OLD and NEW ARITH3_iTIC ; UNIVERSITY do. 

GREENLEAF'S MENTAL « 

COMMON SCHOOL ARITHMETIC. 
NATIONAL « 

PERKINS' PRACTICAL ARITHMETIC ; HIGHER do 
STODDART'S JUVENILE " 

" INTELLECTUAL " 

PRACTICAL " 

" PHILOSOPHICAL " 

Keys to Arithmetics. 

KEY TO THOMPSON'S PRACTICAL ARITHMETIC. 
" " « HIGHER 

« " ADAMS', EMERSON'S, RY'S, and DAVIES' do. 



KEEN & LEES PUBLICATIONS. 



KEY TO DAVIES' ALGEBRA. 
" GREENLEAF'S COMMON SCHOOL ARITHMETIC. 

" " NATIONAL " 

" " ALGEBRA. 

" SMITH'S ARITHMETIC. 

Mathematical Books. 

DAVIES' ALGEBRA— ELEMENTARY. 

« " —BOURDON'S. 

" ELEMENTARY GEOMETRY. 

* PRACTICAL MATHEMATICS. 

" MENSURATION ; DAVIES' LEGENDRE'S GEOMETRY. 

** ANALYTICAL GEOMETRY; DAVIES' DESCRIPTIVE do. 

" SURVEYING AND NAVIGATION. 

" SHADES AND SHADOWS; DAVIES' CALCULUS. 

SMITH'S ALGEBRA; SMITH'S BIOT'S ANALYTICAL GEOMETRY. 
BRIDGE'S ALGEBRA. 
LOOMIS' ELEMENTS OF ALGEBRA; LOOMIS' LARGE do. 

" GEOMETRY, TRIGONOMETRY, LOGARITHMS. 

RY'S FIRST ALGEBRA; RY'S SECOND do. 

ROBINSON'S ELEMENTARY ALGEBRA; ROBINSON'S LARGE do 
GREENLEAF'S ALGEBRA. 
GUMMERE'S SURVEYING; GILLESPIE'S do. 
PLAYFAIR'S EUCLID'S GEOMETRY. 
DAY'S ELEMENTS OF ALGEBRA; DAY'S LARGE do. 

English Grammars. 

BROWN'S GRAMMAR; WELD'S do. 

WELD'S PARSING BOOK; WELLS' GRAMMAR. 

PINNEO'S PRIMARY GRAMMAR; PINNEO'S ANALYTICAL do. 

BULLION'S ANALYTICAL GRAMMAR ; BULLION'S ENGLISH do. 

FIRST LESSONS IN GRAMMAR. 
TOWER'S ELEMENTS OF GRAMMAR; KIRKHAM'S do. 
SMITH'S GRAMMAR ; CLARK'S NEW do. 
CLARK'S NEW REVISED GRAMMAR. 
GREEN'S FIRST LESSONS IN GRAMMAR. 

INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 
« ELEMENTS OF GRAMMAR ; GREEN'S ANALYSIS OF do. 

TOWN'S ANALYSIS; McELLIGOT'S YOUNG ANALYSER. 
McELLIGOT'S ANALYTICAL MANUAL; BUTLER'S GRAMMAR. 

School Geographies. 

MITCHELL'S SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY AND ATLAS. 
" PRIMARY « 

<• • ANCIENT « " 



KEEN & LEE'S PUBLICATIONS. 



MITCHELL'S QUARTO GEOGRAPHY; MITCHELL'S PHYSICAL do. 

" GEOGRAPHICAL QUESTION BOOK. 

" OUTLINE MAPS AND KEY; PELTON'S do. 

OLNEY'S SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY AND ATLAS. 

QUARTO GEOGRAPHY; SMITH'S PRIMARY do. 
SMITH'S GEOGRAPHY AND AND ATLAS. 

" QUARTO GEOGRAPHY; MORSE'S QUARTO do. 

PARLEY'S PRIMARY GEOGRAPHY; MONTEITH'S MANUAL OF do. 
CORNELL'S PRIMARY GEOGRAPHY; CORNELL'S QUARTO do. 
McNALLY'S PRIMARY GEOGRAPHY; COLTON & FITCH'S do. 

Dictionaries. 

WEBSTER'S QUARTO DICTIONARY; WEBSTER'S ROYAL 8vo. do. 

" UNIVERSITY DICTIONARY. 

" QUARTO ACADEMIC DICTIONARY; HIGH SCHOOL do. 

" SMALL SCHOOL DICTIONARY; POCKET do. 

WORCESTER'S 8vo. DICTIONARY; COMPREHENSIVE do. 

" PRIMARY DICTIONARY; ACADEMIC do. 

COBB'S MINIATURE LEXICON; LADIES' do.; PARLOR do. 
DICTIONARY OF POETICAL QUOTATIONS. 

WALKER'S PRONOUNCING DICTIONARY; WALKER'S RHYMING do. 
MEADOWS' SPANISH AND ENGLISH DICTIONARY. 

Astronomy. 

GUY'S ASTRONOMY AND KEITH ON THE GLOBES. 
MATTISON'S ELEMENTS OF ASTRONOMY. 

" HIGH SCHOOL 

BURRITT'S GEOGRAPHY OF THE HEAVENS AND ATLAS. 
SMITH'S ILLUSTRATED ASTRONOMY. 
OLMSTED'S SCHOOL ASTRONOMY; OLMSTED'S LARGE do. 

Anatomy and Physiology for Schools. 

CUTTER'S ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 
FIRST BOOK IN ANATOMY. 
" PRIMARY ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 

JANE TAYLOR'S PHYSIOLOGY; LAMBERT'S do. ; COMSTOCK'S do. 

Botany. 

WOOD'S FIRST LESSONS IN BOTANY. 

" CLASS-BOOK OF " 

MRS. LINCOLN'S BOTANY; COMSTOCK'S do. 

Works on Bookkeeping. 

MAYHEW'S BOOKKEEPING; MAYHEW'S BLANKS to do ; KEY to do. 
FULTON & EASTMAN'S BOOKKEEPING. 
1* 



j CHARLES DESILVER,. PHILADELPHIA, 
| PUBLISHER AND BOOKSELLER, 

I (Of the late Firms of Thomas, Goivperthwait $ Co., and 
I Cowperthwait, Desilver $ Butler — at the Old Stand of , 
I Desilver, Thomas $ Co.,) 

\ No. 253 MAEKET STREET, 



PUBLISH THE FOLLOWING 



VALUABLE SCHOOL BOOKS, 



WHICH ARE FOR SALE BY 
THROUGHOUT THE 



BOOKSELLERS GENERALLY 
UNITED STATES. 



SCHOOL HISTORIES. 

FROST'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED 
STATES, for the use of schools and aca- 
demies; illustrated with 40 engravings; 12mo. 

FROST'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED 
STATES, for the use of common schools; 
condensed from the author's large History 
of the United States ; 18mo. 

LORD'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 
for the use of schools, by John Lord, A.M., 
author of a Modern History from the time of 
Luther to the fall of Napoleon; 12mo. 

LORD'S MODERN HISTORY, from the time of 
Luther to the fall of Napoleon, for the use of 
schools and colleges, by John Lord, A. M., 8vo. 



PINNOCK'S HISTORICAL SERIES 

PIN NOCK'S FRANCE — History of France and 
Normandy, from the earliest times to the 
Revolution of 1848, with questions for exami- 
nation at the end of each section, by W. C. 
Taylor, LL. D., of Trinity College, Dublin ; 
author of a Manual of Ancient and Modem 
History, &c, &c, and editor of Pinnock's im- 
proved editions of Goldsmith's Greece, Rome 
and England ; illustrated with numerous en- 
gravings ; first American from the third Eng- 
lish edition, 1 vol. 12mo. 

PINNOCK'S GOLDSMITH'S ROME- revised 
edition, by W. C. Taylor, LL. D., with nume- 
rous engravings by Atherton and others. 12mo. 

PINNOCK'S GOLDSMITH'S GREECE— revised 
and enlarged edition, with questions; byW. C. 
Taylor, LL. D., with numerous illustrations by 
Atherton and others. 1 vol." 12mo. 

PINNOCK'S GOLDSMITH'S ENGLAND, revised 
and improved, and continued to 1815; with 
questions ; by W. C. Taylor, LL.D., with nume- 
rous engravings. 45th Amer. edit. 1 vol. 12mo, 

CLASSICAL 

SMART'S CICERO, new edition 

VIRGIL INTERLINEAR, adapted to the system 

of classical instruction, by Levi Hart and V. R. 

Osborn. 



MATHEMATICAL. t 

BRIDGE'S ALGEBRA. 3 

SMITH AND DUKE'S STATISTICAL ARITH- 4 
METIC. ' 

SMITH'S KEY TO ARITHMETIC. 
SMITH'S ALGEBRA. 
BIOT'S ANALYTICAL GEOMETR1. 

MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

BISHOP BUTLER'S ETHICAL DISCOURSES, i 
to which are added some Remains, hitherto i 
unpublished. Prepared as a Text-Book in i 
Moral Philosophy, with a Syllabus by Dr. Whe- J 
well. Edited by the Rev. Joseph C. Pass- i 
more, A. M., Professor of Mental Philosophy i 
in St. James' College, Maryland. 1 vol. 12mo. 4 

NATURAL SCIENCES. 

GUY'S ASTRONOMY AND KEITH ON THE * 
GLOBES. 4 

JOHNSTON'S NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 5 

JOHNSTON'S TURNER'S CHEMISTRY. 2 

JOHNSTON' TURNER'S ELEMENTS OF i 
CHEMISTRY. $ 

MODERN LANGUAGES. 

GRAETER'S GERMAN PHRASES. i 

MANESCA'S FRENCH GRAMMAR. | 

MANESCA'S FRENCH READER. | 

MEADOWS' SPANISH AND ENGLISH DIC- | 
TION ARY, in two parts. I. Spanish and Eng- | 
lish ; II. English and Spanish. ? 

STANDARD SPEAKERS. J 

FROST'S AMERICAN SPEAKER, 12mo. 

SARGENT'S STANDARD SPEAKER, contain- J 
ing Exercises in Prose and Poetry, for Colleges, < 
Schools, &c 1 vol. crown 8vo. c 

SARGENT'S SELECTIONS IN POETRY, for | 
Exercises at School and at Home. Edited by J 
Epes Sargent, with illustrations by Billings and 
others ; 1 vol. 12mo. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

CHANDLER'S GRAMMAR, 12mo. 
JAUDON'S EXPOSITOR, 12mo. 
FLOWERS OF ELOCUTION; a Reading Book, 
by Mrs. Caroline Lee Hentz. In press. 



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